Life with Masks
by amelatte92
Summary: It's about how you should let go, accept, and find another path.. Life is after all, full of unpredictable things and secrecies.. It's only a matter of time when God untangled of the already tangled thread..
1. Chapter 1

" _Do you believe in after world?" a girl with long blond hair asked, in her usual dreamy tone, "This is what V and I believe. Well, it's actually more like I believe what V thinks.. It's a bit different from what my religion tells me,"_

 _A gentle breeze swept the green meadow around them, giving them a slight chill into their skin, a sign of autumn coming. He gazed deeply into the girl beside her, her eyes shone brightly as she talked about V. There was nothing he could do other than listening to what Rika said._

" _When my body dies.. my soul becomes free and able to go anywhere. It can go across dimensions to a world where anything is possible.. What should I call that place? Heaven.. maybe? And.. when I go to heaven, I can meet other souls that had lived with me, and visit my friends on earth. But.." Rika scowled, "Because there's no body, the souls can't feel nor touch each other. My friends on earth won't be able to feel or touch me either.. So, when you meet another soul in heaven and fall in love, it hurts so much.." she continued, a disappointment filled her green mirthless eyes, "So they make a promise to each other… To have a body on earth and experience love together.."_

 _He still didn't say anything. He kept his mouth shut._

" _V and I… might have been two souls that met in heaven. Because I feel it… It was fate…" she turned into a guy beside her, adding a faint smile, making her beauty seeped into every cell within his body_

 _He closed his eyes and smiled to her as bright as usual._

 _Yes, saying anything wouldn't change her heart after all.._

…

12.00 pm

It was sunny day. Lee Eun Ha was doing her routines in the office tel. Sweeping, mopping, and cleaning the dust stuck to the entire corner of the office tel were all she had been doing from the first time she stepped on that place. Abandoned for almost 2 years by the deceased previous owner, of course it took extra effort to clean every inch of that office tel. She didn't complain at all. She was grateful enough that she didn't find any animal carcasses. She wasn't afraid of rats or cockroaches, but she couldn't handle the smell of a dead thing. Apparently, some of her friends found it odd because normally, girls hated them. She didn't really understand why girls would scream at rats or cockroaches.

"What harm would they do to human except it was unhealthy? I mean, why they have to scream?" she answered to everyone who asked her abnormality as a girl, as not being scared of rats or cockroaches.

She poured hot water to her coffee and took a laggard march into the balcony, while sipping her coffee every now and then. The view of Seoul from this 14th floor in the afternoon was pretty decent. Cars, motorcycles, and pedestrians got in a perfect line, no traffic anywhere. The sun shone lightly from above too. The weather was not so hot since she could walk around in the balcony as long as she wanted to.

VIXX's song, Error, was played in her iPod. The upbeat song echoes from her headset. It began with Leo's sweet voice and the build up to the chorus was beautifully done. She could never get tired listening to this music.

This song sounds mystical as the song told you a tale of a robots coming to life by imitating the sound of a heartbeat. Robots.. Hmm, she remembered the error in her life just a few hours ago. She kind of had a feeling that those people were just robots at first. She never knew that she would meet a group of people that would change her entire life with just a simple click on her phone.

It was started just a moment ago.

…

 _12 hours before.._

It was almost midnight, and she was on her way to her apartment in Sinchon. Drinking soju and going karaoke with her friends was her college reunion agenda. She enjoyed that night, but she was dead tired to speak with anyone on the bus. Let alone, people had a new habit of doing things with their smart phones, so chatting directly face to face was almost gone nowadays. Smartphone zombie apocalypse – that was the new phenomenon. But she couldn't blame them as she was with her phone as well. She scrolled her SNS timeline to find interesting tweets, but no new tweet. Well, it was midnight, who would tweet on midnight, right? Except for the twitter bot where you could see hundreds photos of celebrity.

Zen.. That was that celebrity's name, her bias. He was not so famous like Cho Kyuhyun from Super Junior to be honest, considering his work in theatre was not majorily liked by people nowadays, unlike boybands from SM Entertainment, but she loved him still. Sometimes she would stay in her SNS just to see that twitter bot posted Zen's beautiful photos every single day. She didn't know who managed that twitter bot, but she couldn't deny that she would grant him or her gratitude for spreading those beautiful actor photos.

After a while, she closed her twitter and got off from the bus. Her apartment was not too far from that place. That road was almost empty, only a couple cars went by. As a young girl in her 20s, she was supposed to be scared for lurking around at midnight, but she was not. She was accustomed to it. She had been alone for years and the neighborhood was not creepy either, so she was fine.

Her family lived in a country side, Masan. She got full scholarship in The Department of Korean Language and Literature in Yonsei University, thus she got a job as an assistant lecturer after graduated and a translator as her main job. Things were good in her life now, remembering all those hard times when she got into Seoul for the first time, not only because of her heavy accent of _Gyeongsang_ dialect, when almost all Seoul people made fun of _,_ but she hardly have any money to support her life in Seoul.

A mere few steps she had been taking, yet she got bored eventually. As one of the zombie victim, she took out her phone again from her jeans. Finding twitter not amusing enough, she scrolled news on her browser when suddenly, a message pop out in her screen. She stopped walking. Frowned for a while as she was not so fond of what stated on that pop out news flash. She thought it was only a spam. She meant to click 'No' as always. She was too lazy to read what it was. But she clicked 'Yes' accidentally.

Then her screen went black. Her almost-sleepy-eyes widened up. She thought her phone was broken because of that spam.

"Damn it!" she cursed

Even though she had enough money to buy a new phone, she was one of the people who cherished everything she bought. So, when she knew she broke her phone over a spam or a virus perhaps, she couldn't accept it.

"Oh please," she begged desperately

She clicked and tapped her phone over and over again. It was dead for a minute or two. She was almost giving up when suddenly the display from her phone turned into a very basic BIOS level script. Those green codes with a complete dark background seemed to process for a while. She waited and prayed that her phone would get back to normal in a minute or two. Suddenly, the camera light came on and the display shone brightly. And what seemed to be chat room was opened..

Unknown : …Hello…?

Some guy named Unknown appeared in the chat room. "What the hell?" she whispered it for herself. She couldn't say anything except typing question mark.

Eun Ha : ?

Unknown : Can you see this?

Eun Ha : Yes, I can.

Unknown : …Finally connected. Thank God.

Unknown : It's not every day you get a text from a stranger.

Unknown : I'm a bit flustered myself. I found a smart phone at the subway station, but all it had was this messenger app.

Unknown : I want to find the owner, but I don't see any contact info or call records…

Unknown : I've been sending messages with this app but no reply…

Unknown : All I see is address and some important-looking numbers saved in notes.

Unknown : I'd like to go there myself but I'm currently abroad…

She got a bit upset by his or her attitude for explaining things before introducing his or her self. She wanted to say, "Why are you talking to me as if I were your friend?" but she thought it would be rude to say so. So, she asked his or her identities first.

Eun Ha : First, who are you?

Unknown : Me? Oh sorry. I didn't even introduce myself.

Unknown : I'm just … a student studying abroad. I'm Korean. Here is my pic. Thought you would feel less cautious after seeing it… :)

A picture of a smiling young man with black hair and green mint eyes appeared at her screen. He was being true though, he didn't seem like a bad guy from his picture.

Unknown : I could tell you my name, but it doesn't really matter. You won't find me on search engines.^^;

Unknown : But, anyways..

Unknown : Can you help me find the owner of this phone?

Unknown : I know you're surprised to have someone suddenly pop up and ask you a favor like this.

Unknown : But still…

Unknown : I'd appreciate if you could help.

Confused was the best term for explaining the situation she got into however she tried to grasp the information given. So, this Unknown guy found a phone at subway station.. He said he was studying abroad which could be inferred that he found that phone at subway outside Korea.. Wait.. Outside Korea? That info was ridiculous, why did he bother to find the owner of the phone so far from his place to his homeland? He could just give it to police or make an announcement somewhere near that place. The owner must live abroad as well if he or she lost it at subway station outside Korea, so there wouldn't likely be any use of her finding the owner in Seoul.

Eun Ha : Why are you so obsessed with finding the owner? You can just give it to the police or the post office.

Unknown : Well, normal people won't be able to understand…

Unknown : To be honest, I have a religion.

Unknown : My religion says that you must not miss any opportunity to do good, no matter how small. Well, some say that it's just being nosy. But I'm not like normal people. I can't help but think about how stressed the owner might be…

Unknown : It's really a safe place. I know the area. It's developed.

Unknown : Please?

Eun Ha : Fine… I'm living right away if it feels sketchy.

Unknown : You trust me… Thank you!

Unknown : Just a sec. I'll send you the address.

She stood still in her place, waiting for another chat this Unknown guy sent.

Unknown : Found it. Now, you should go to apartment number 1422 on 14th floor when you reached the address.

The address was sent to the chat room. It was indeed a developed area. Mapo District, Seoul, an area that lies northwest of the Han River, famous for Hongdae Street, Namsan Tower, 63 Building.. Places that often appeared in many Variety Shows or dramas. The image of a tall building for the place she was about to go occurred to her mind, the point was she probably couldn't afford of living there with her current income. She went to the address right away. She stopped another bus, and took it into another route. Thank God, there was at least one last bus.

It took her half an hour to get into that address. And it was true. The building before her eyes soaring so high, making her jaw dropped at the luxury of its exterior designed alongwith its interior. The one who lived in this tall building probably wouldn't even mind for losing a mere smartphone, they could just buy the new one if they had money to live there. She didn't understand why that Unknown guy insisted on giving it back to its owner.

She reached the lobby. There, she found a woman in her mid 30s sitting at the receptionist table. Eun Ha came over her. That woman stared judgingly at the first glance, but giving out a smile at the next attempt. Perhaps she was just curious as it was not a familiar face entering the apartment building. The woman let her go to the elevator anyway, after they had a bit chit chat as to explain her purpose for getting into the apartment. She was supposed to take an elevator to reach the 14th floor, the floor in which Unknown guy told her before. A hesitation filled her head when she was about to press the Up button on the cold marble wall. She never liked elevator.

" _It's a cramped room with no window,"_ she always thought

Nevertheless, she pushed that button and waited for the elevator gone down from 20th floor. Perhaps it was already midnight that there would be a small chance for people going out from their apartment and used the elevator as it came down in a very short time. She took one step to the elevator and pressed the 14th floor button. She closed her eyes tightly and clenched her fist as strong as she could, hoping that the bell dings as soon as possible to tell her that she had arrived in 14th floor.

Finally, after a moment that felt like eternity, she stepped off half running from that elevator as if she would be locked inside that damn elevator if she didn't get out as soon as possible. While exhaling deeply, she looked around. She found the apartment room that Unknown guy told her about. Number 1422 was on the door across the elevator. She didn't know what to do at that time. She looked around and spotted CCTV at the corner up of the ceilings. She tilted her head, waving and smiling to the CCTV. She liked it when there was CCTV, finding out that there might be someone who saw her pranks in CCTV made her happy a bit.

" _Maybe, someone would practically smile as well when they watch this footage,"_ she thought, smiling

Unknown : Are you there? ^^ See. Nothing strange.

A sudden notification from her phone startled her a bit. He texted her right after she arrived. Her curiosity aroused, how the hell did this guy know she had arrived? The timing was too precise for a coincident took place. The idea of him hiding somewhere near her crossed her mind, though she had no desire for looking around that place. The hall was empty, she had goose bumps along her arms and she could feel the hairs on the nape of her neck standing up. She hated the quietude. She was the only living thing around, well, not only her actually, there were pot of green plants in front of each room. She meant, she was the only living thing that had an ability to speak and think around that empty hall. The image of something white appeared out of nowhere making things worse. She blamed herself for her tendency of liking horror movies despite her cowardness toward spiritual beings.

Unknown : Is there a password lock on the door?

She glanced at the door and took a few step forward. There was indeed a password lock on the door. It required a password to get inside the apartment, something new to her.

Eun Ha : Yes.

Unknown : I'll send you the digit. Try it.

A password that was likely a key to open the door was listed in the chat room. She hesitated. Could she really barge inside it? What if she got jailed because of breaking and entry? Or worse, what if it was only a set up and turned out that it was the nest of criminals?

Eun Ha : …Shouldn't I ring the doorbell first?

Unknown : Hmmm.. You're right! Sorry, I wasn't thinking straight. Then, ring the doorbell..

She rang the doorbell, but there was no answer.

Eun Ha : I don't think anyone's inside…

Unknown : Hmm, no choice then. I guess the place is empty. Why don't you press the code?

Eun Ha : Uhm, ok. I will.

Unknown : Good.

She input the password given with confused thoughts. The sound of _'clicked'_ echoed throughout the hall.

Eun Ha : The door's open.

Unknown : Good, why don't you go inside?

She furrowed her eyebrows. She began to feel there was something wrong with this guy. Set aside his wish to do good deed, barging in to a stranger house was not polite. At least, if it were her apartment, she would likely be pissed if there were some other stranger casually entering her place.

Eun Ha : Can I just enter a stranger house?

Unknown : You can just leave a note. I'll give you my info. If something happens, you can just show my messages. That'll do.

" _Leave a note?"_ she thought.

A lot of questions dwelled inside her mind. What if an alarm ring or something happened when she entered the apartment? Spending a night in a jail was not going to be a nice memory for her, moreover if her family found out about it. She might get dragged into her hometown if she screwed her life in Seoul. Anyway, she ended up agreeing this guy's request. If there were indeed something wrong, she could just show that chat room with him. It could be a decent proof to her innocence.

Eun Ha : Then.. Alright.

Unknown : Th

Unknown : ank

Unknown : you…

She got inside. To her surprised, the chat room changed into BIOS level script once again. The chat room between her and Unknown disappeared, replaced with a couple people chatting. She couldn't say a thing. She was too flustered to even say anything or made announcement that she got into that suspicious chat room without her intention.


	2. Chapter 2

_2 years ago.._

 _V tightened his grip for the woman beside him. She grew thinner from the last time he met her, and her face was paler, as if her entire blood had been sucked out from her body without any agreement from its host. He tried to say something nice to console her, yet the voice that came out from his mouth was only a choked sound. He was devastated seeing his lover suffered like that._

" _I love you, Rika.." his voice wavering, "Do you remember? I always tell you.. I will never leave you.. I am your sun and you will always be in me," V said, trying to hold back his tears that almost fell in his chiseled cheeks_

" _I'm inside the sun.." Rika slowly answered V. She rested her head on V's shoulder as her gaze stretched far into the waves at the horizon, "I will be born again inside of you," she continued, "I'm going to stop thinking about the abandoned past. It will only bring more fear. I want to be in the present… I want to be in this moment where I love you… This moment where I'm looking at you, this moment we're making together… I cherished it so much," her tears fell into his bare upper arm skin, "V, you are my sun, and I'm your sun.."_

 _V lost his ability to speak as tears finally found their path to run down his face. He gently reached Rika's hand and kept it safe within his grasp, he would never let her go anywhere._

…

Eun Ha was left dumbfounded to see her screen showed what seemed to be a chat room of a typical messenger application, with some people chatting inside it. The display was a bit different from the previous chat room with Unknown as it wasn't in a level BIOS script anymore. Though, she had never seen any messenger application that had the same interface like that one.

A few people kept on chatting, and a boy was weeping for his failure in his test while other people were teasing him for that. A faint smile broke on her lips, although she wasn't supposed to be, considering a bizarre situation she was in. They didn't realize that Eun Ha unintentionally joined their conversation. It was a guy with username 707 who noticed there was someone else joining the chat room, which triggered every person in the chat room.

707 : WAIT! I think there's someone else in here .

Yoosung : What?! Who?!

ZEN : Eun Ha?!

Now that she was busted, she couldn't not say anything any longer. People in the chat room must have freaked out finding their likely private chat room got breached like that. It was the time for her revealing herself, perhaps a simple hello would suffice as a starter.

Eun Ha : Hello

Yoosung : Gahhhh it's talking!

Yoosung sent shock emoji

"Of course I'm talking, I'm human too.." Eun Ha muttered while trying to find a switch on the wall

The room was completely dark, one thing she feared most for as long as she could remember. Somehow her brain set it that Sadako would crawl and grip her foot with her long-thinned-pale fingers and drag her into the abyss, leaving her family behind, searching for their lost child into every part of the world, only to find no clues of her whereabouts. A cold shivers ran down her spine as she shook her head to forget her scary imagination. She found the switch at last, after a moment of groping the wall near the door.

She switched it on and her eyes squinted from the light that lit the room. That was until her eyes were accustomed to the light, she began to see a view in front of her. It was a studio apartment or some say, an office tel, with a bed right across the door, filing cabinets beside it, a set of computer and dining table in the living room. Her eyes widened at the sight of the chair. About time. She craved for sitting down for a while, her legs almost give up for the pain the heels made her.

She wiped the dust that stuck on the chair before sitting down. It was thick. The room also smelled weird, probably because of the dust particle in every corner of the room, glad she didn't have any problem with her lungs, otherwise she would probably cough uncontrollably.

Han Jumin : Who is it?

Yoosung : Find out what it is!

Kang Jaehee : How did you find out about this place? Where did you download the application?

707 : Oh…^^;

707 : Wait.

707 : Just found something. This is weird.

ZEN : What is it? Hurry and tell me.

707 : I traced the IP…

707 : It's from Rika's office tel.

Yoosung : Rika's office tel?

Han Jumin : Where was it?

Kang Jaehee : The location was not revealed. I know it to be classified.

707 : Anyways, someone must have broken into her office tel. It talked just now, so it must be a person ^^;

" _Rika? Who is that?"_ she asked confusedly after reading the conversation.

Despite the commotion from every people in the chat room, something caught her eyes. There was someone in the chat room with a username ZEN. She knew that name. It was her bias that she always paid attention to on twitter bot. She didn't believe her eyes. It was impossible that she could really be in the same chat room with a celebrity like him. She couldn't help thinking whether they were real or not. How could Zen chat with her as a friend? Perhaps, they were all robots programmed to say things?

A guy with username Han Jumin demanded her to reveal herself at that instant. She was about to tell them who she really was, but she lost her chance as the others constantly sent out their chat in a light speed. 707 said that he would hack her if she didn't say anything, meanwhile Zen got a bit joyful because he thought she was one of her fans, intriguing Han Jumin to fuse his anger, though it was rather a true guess.

She couldn't stay silent any longer. It was time to finally introduce herself.

Eun Ha : I am Lee Eun Ha. Who are you all and what is this place?

707 : Lol so awkward.

707 : I thought it was a computer talking.

ZEN : Seems more normal than I thought.

Yoosung : What were you thinking?

ZEN : …Nothing~ Nothing.

Yoosung : Should we… introduce ourselves?

Han Jumin : Are you serious…?

Kang Jaehee : I think it's a bit too early for that.

The next thing she knew, they began introducing themselves, even though Kang Jaehee and Han Jumin seemed to oppose the idea. Zen, 23 years old, musical actor. He sent his selfie a moment after that, a combination of beautiful and handsome figurine with his long silver hair, fair skin, and attractive red eyes. It hit her, he was indeed the one who she always see on twitter. It was true. She didn't believe herself for getting to know him at last.

A red headed with yellow black stripes pattern in his glasses as it was seen in his profile picture was 707. He was called Seven by Yoosung. He told her that Zen's real name was Ryu Hyun. This Seven guy didn't want to tell her his real name. _"It was secret,"_ he said. He told her to only remember him as a 21 years old young hacker and his house was also a secret. "What's with the secrecy?" Eun Ha mumbled. Then Yoosung introduced himself. His name was Kim Yoosung, a bright young boy with blonde hair and star pins in his hair. 20 years old, college student in Yonsei University. Well, it was the same alma mater with her, so she got excited and typed that she was from Yonsei too.

Eun Ha : Hey, I graduated from Yonsei. Apparently I am an assistant lecturer sometimes.

Yoosung : What? A professor?

Eun Ha : No, I'm just an assistant.. Didn't you read? Lol

Yoosung : Oh, right. My mistake. Got a bit worked up there.. Lol

ZEN : Lol. Yoosung.. You couldn't tell the difference between assistant lecturer and professor?

Yoosung : Hey, by the fact that she teaches in my university shocked me already.. Maybe you've known what I look like?

He sent a shy emoji

" _It was so cute_ ," she thought. She racked her brain to the fullest, trying to remember if she had a glimpse of yellow haired guy in one of her classes. But no, it didn't ring any bell, not to mention she was also bad at remembering stuff.

Eun Ha : No, I'm afraid I haven't seen you. I'm not too aware of my surroundings.. ^^

Yoosung sent a depressed emoji.

Yoosung : Ok then, we'll get to know each other from now on.. Lol

Eun Ha : Yes, apparently.. ^^

707 : Don't let her caught up you're typing or sleeping when you are in her class kiddo. She might throw you a chalk or something.. Lol

Yoosung : I'm not sleeping!

707 : Oh really?

Seven teased Yoosung for a while there. _"They must have joking around often,"_ Eun Ha thought. Not a moment later, Seven told her about Jumin and Jaehee. Han Jumin was the heir of a pretty famous corporation, C &R International, and Jaehee was his assistant, 26 and 25 years old.

Seven posted a photo of a young man with black hair in a suit feeding a cat. It was Han Jumin. He told Eun Ha about Jumin's cat, Elizabeth the 3rd, with a slight disagreement from her owner as he was scared Eun Ha would try to kidnap her or something, giving such a tingling sensation for Eun Ha to see a reaction of a cat person. She was a white fur Persian cat with sparkling blue eyes. Eun Ha didn't really fancy cats, though she didn't hate it either, but Elizabeth the 3rd was indeed so beautiful. Zen was the one who had troubles with cats. He said he was allergic to it. His allergy was too severe as he could sneeze while seeing only a picture. "So cute," she grinned at the thought

They talked about V. Turned up he was their leader. What he led, she had no idea. They talked about the identity of Unknown which she couldn't say much. Nothing was recorded. She thought she could show her conversation with the Unknown guy, but the chat room disappeared at the same time those people appeared in the interface. It happened so fast she couldn't think of screen shooting her conversation with Unknown as a proof of her innocent.

Eun Ha got taken aback by Jaehee's statement that she would call police anytime. Eun Ha could have screamed at Jaehee for suspecting her too much. But, she held herself. She would have freaked out as well if there was stranger coming in her chat room. She couldn't blame Jaehee for being cautious. Fortunately Jumin ceased the tension by saying he didn't want to reveal anything until they figured out who Eun Ha was.

Seven on the other hand assured everyone that Eun Ha was not dangerous. He used his ability as a hacker to search everything she could find about her. But, he didn't completely do the background check. _"Not yet"_ , he said.

707 : Saw her face in the CCTV.. She's cute .

Eun Ha could swear her cheek got reddened by Seven's compliment toward her. It was the first time a stranger told her she was cute. But the sudden fact that Seven uttered caused ruckus from Zen and Yoosung. They demanded Seven to share Eun Ha's picture in the chat room. _"No.. Don't.."_ Eun Ha begged. She was not ready to let her face known by Zen, her ultimate bias, let alone if he remembered their encounter with each other years ago. It was not the time she revealed that she was indeed one of his fans.

707 : No~ It violates her privacy~

Eun Ha was relieved at his decision for not posting her picture, meanwhile Yoosung and Zen pouted to Seven, telling him that it wasn't fair for him to know what she looked like for the first time. Being the one who made everyone curious made Eun Ha felt a slight of joy in her heart. Moreover, they were like cute little brothers to her.

Seven then shared a picture of woman, making Eun Ha jumped one bit at the thought that it was hers, but it was not. She had short brown hair, wearing glasses, looked like a successful career woman with a dominance aura around her. Zen, Yoosung, and Jumin were startled by that. They thought it was a picture of Eun Ha. But actually, it was Jaehee's picture. So cute that they all didn't recognized their friend's picture, moreover for Jumin, as Jaehee was his assistant. Eun Ha giggled while reading all those chats. She didn't know there would be people who would be attractive like them, someone as bright as Yoosung, or a joker like Seven, or a handsome boy like Zen. She forgot about the mysterious Unknown for a while there, when suddenly V came to chat room.

V told everyone that he was as flustered as everyone could be. He didn't know the password of this office tel either. When Yoosung said that he wanted to come to this office tel, Seven forbid him. Seven wouldn't give him the address of this office tel. It was a bit confusing for Eun Ha actually, "Why did it have to be secret?" she whispered

It was not Rika's office tel either. It belonged to V. Yoosung wondered why V didn't know the password even though V was Rika's fiancée. V stated that he had never even been in this office tel. He just knew where it was. Rika was the one who worked there.

V : There are a lot of documents in there that must not be damaged.

V : I can't reveal the address because all the classified information about this organization is stored there, plus other sensitive materials..

Han Jumin : I didn't know the place contained sensitive material.

Yoosung : You don't trust us enough to let us go, right?

Han Jumin : Don't take it personally. It's better to be ignorant sometimes.

V : Yes, for the reason Jumin said.

V : Anyways, I can't tell you the address. I'm sorry.

Yoosung : Then how did Seven know that the address he traced is Rika's apartment?

Kang Jaehee : Since he's responsible for the organization's classified information.

707 : Yup, that's true, but also I'm the only one who developed this app.

707 : Rika wanted to take care of some work through this too.

707 : I went to her place to link the app with some of the documents in her computer.

Yoosung : Oh…

Jumin : I see.

V : Only Luciel and I know the address.

She supported her head with her palm that rested on the table and placed her phone on the table, scrolling the chat room again, while figuring out who Luciel was. From the first time they appeared in the chat room, there had no username called 'Luciel'. She failed to understand about that part hence she questioned it in the chat room.

Eun Ha : Luciel?

707 : Oh, that's my real name. V had a habit to call everyone by their real name. lol

"Real name?" she asked confusedly. Her eyebrows got wrinkled again for the past hour as she questioned about the mysterious aura this Seven guy had, "How come a person has more than one name?"

V : I repeat, since the information must be protected, please do not attempt to find the apartment. Do not ask Lee Eun Ha about it, and Miss Lee, please do not reveal the address.

Being asked suddenly by V made her wonder for a while. She looked around the office tel. As far as she could see, there were indeed a few cabinets and a computer in the office room. One bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, and the last were the balcony. She observed that office tel, every details of it. She found nothing suspicious in that office tel.

Eun Ha : What's classified information?

V : All the information there is classified.

V : So, Miss Lee… Is that what I call you? Please do not touch anything there.

Eun Ha : Ermm… V… Just call me Eun Ha… ^^;

V : Ah, right…

ZEN : Lololol you're cute

She recoiled at Zen's praise for her. She could see her hand trembled above the screen. Her eyes didn't blink for the next seconds as her brain still set her eyes to see the sentence. It was such a beautiful syllable, nobody, not even her friends, would believe she would casually speak with her bias like that. It was like a dream come true. She could feel a butterfly flying right around her tummy, though such feeling didn't last longer, as the next sentence from V ruined it all.

V : Anyway, please don't touch anything over there. For example, if you try to force open one of the drawers…

V : The alarm will ring.

A snake slithered inside her womb now, as frantic questions filled her thought. What alarm? What the hell was that classified documents about? If the alarm rings, then what would happen? Could she stay at this suspicious office tel? Everything was suspicious. She had a second thought. It was not a joke anymore. She thought it was only chatting with a regular people and somehow she accidentally joined their conversation. Everyone must have the same reaction with her.

V, at the next attempt, said that there was a possibility that Eun Ha was led to Rika's office tel by someone who knew Rika. Someone that Rika trusted enough to know the exact location. V's theory was not welcomed very well by the others. Yoosung didn't believe there was another person Rika trust enough to know something that they had no idea about. Yoosung was her cousin after all.

V kept his theory that Rika must have wanted someone to do the work she did before.

Han Jumin : What…?

ZEN : No way…

Kang Jaehee : The work Rika did before…

707 : Hosting parties?

ZEN : You mean Rika's party.

Yoosung : Do you really think… that Rika planned this?

Yoosung : If she made that decision when she was alive…

V : That's my guess.. but yes.

She couldn't completely grasp everyone's chat. She had to re-read every chat to fully understand what they were talking about. But even though she tried really hard to understand, she still couldn't get the hang out of it. What parties? Who was Rika? Who were they?

She felt like she was a kid all over again while watching grownups talking nonstop about politics or stock prices. She couldn't help herself but thinking, perhaps it would be best if she didn't approve that Unknown's guy request from the first time…


	3. Chapter 3

_2 years ago, RFA Christmas Party_

 _It was a great party hall with the most beautiful chandelier hung above and festive atmosphere throughout the room. The band rendered the melodious song of Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You while everyone lifted their champagne, having a nice bonding conversation between each other. Crowd gathered in line, waiting for their chance to step up to the podium to place their donation. Lots of them came from different background. Actors, business men, organizations, all of them went up one by one, placed their case full of money or checks before the sum shewed from the big screen behind them._

" _Now, next in line please," a beautiful girl in long blond hair gestured for the next person in line to place his donation. She was busily typing the large sum the previous donors donate, keeping her eyes fixed into the screen in front of her, totally unaware to another beautiful figurine towering in front of her._

" _It's me Rika-shi," came a manly yet beautiful voice above her head_

 _Rika looked up at the source of that voice, "Oh, Zen!" she exclaimed happily, stood up to pat Zen's broaden shoulder with her one hand, cleaning up the snow remnants that stayed idly in his broaden shoulder, "Why are you standing in line?" she asked, smiling from ear to ear at the presence of the most beautiful person, her muse._

 _Zen's waist-long thick silver hair was drawn back. Perhaps it was the way he had his hair styled in perfect ponytails, his chiseled face highlighting his perfect feature._

" _I'd like to make donations too of course," Zen replied, smiling back at her, handing over a check to Rika, which Rika gladly accepted it_

" _You can make donations later on. Why don't you help us for now?"_

 _Rika and Zen turned their head to the source of voice. Another beautiful figurine suddenly came from Rika's back. His short turquoise hair flowed down beautifully, following his saunter forward. He brought a DSLR camera with the longest lens in his hands, and naturally placed his right arm in Rika's shoulder. It was V, her beloved fiancé. Rika's face turned red at V's sudden gesture, though she hid it by speaking casually toward Zen._

" _Haha, V's right. Yoosung's been gone for hours because of some issues with stage lighting. Why don't you go and help him?" Rika asked, turning her head into the hallway, searching her cousin's whereabout_

 _Zen hissed, "Please give me a break… I was just there for just now looking at lights. Only one of them is malfunctioning, it's not a big issue.. But that kid was so damn picky. I told him we should wait for an electrician, but he didn't listen. So impatient.." he growled_

 _V chuckled, "Yoosung can be really passionate,"_

" _Yeah, I could tell from his report card, haha," Rika retorted, giggling at the idea of her cousin's panicking trying to fix the light_

" _Well, if you don't want to help Yoosung, why don't you help Jumin picking up his suit? I heard he's waiting for another one," V suggested, but smirking at the end of suggestion_

" _Helping Jumin?!" suddenly he got worked up, "I'd better go help Yoosung than being with him even only for a second.." Zen scoffed_

 _V and Rika couldn't help laughing to see Zen got hyped like that. They knew very well that Zen and Jumin never got so friendly with each other. They were so different in personality, yet Jumin had a cat, Zen's worst nemesis._

…

After a moment, which seemed to be like forever, she ventured to express her thoughts..

Eun Ha : I just came here to find the owner of the phone… What is going on?

707 : Owner of the phone?

707 : You were phised lol

Seven continued telling Eun Ha that the Unknown possibly was someone Rika trusted enough. And Unknown was indeed someone who convinced Eun Ha to go to that office tel to continue Rika's job. Zen was the one who explained about Rika and the organization they were in. Apparently, they were in RFA, Rika's Fundraising Association. Rika founded the organization 4 years ago, and hosted 2 parties until so far. Everyone helped Rika hosting the party. But unfortunately, she had passed away a year and a half ago. Eun Ha accepted that information. All she had to do was hosting a party and something about emails.

She had never gone to any party before. The parties that she ever joined were her reunion party with her college friends, but it was only in a restaurant and end up drinking soju till drop. She couldn't stay until that party was ended though. She maintained her schedule to go home before midnight every day. But there she was, in her new neighborhood, being accused of burglary that she had nothing to do with. She must have drunk a lot to believe in a stranger's request to go to a strange address plus meeting stranger people.

She looked at her watch. She didn't believe that it was 2 am in the morning. Clearly, there would be no bus around anymore. She started to get panicked. What if there was criminal lurking around in the corner? Or maybe it was a prank by someone and they would pop out of nowhere to startle her and gave her money? Or… maybe they were just a robot programmed to say things…

She couldn't make any guesses and stopped reading chats. Reading it on and on felt like a heavy burden fell into her shoulder. She still couldn't understand what she had to do. She might be okay dealing with people, but a large scale of party? She didn't think she could do it. Let alone, she had to re-arrange her schedule of teaching in Yonsei and her translating job. There were always deadlines for her work, so she couldn't jeopardize her job only to help some strange request from an unknown group.

She straightened her back, grabbed her phone again, and looked at the chat once more. But unfortunately, all of them had left the chat room. She sighed, and still wondering, what she would do first. She rubbed her tired eyes and let out a small yawn.

Suddenly, her phone rang. There was someone calling her. She hesitated for a while whether she picked up or not. But she picked up at last.

"Rrrrrrrrr…. Rrrrrrrrrrr…. Your bank account has been used for a fun prank. Were you aware of this? I must first confirm your cell phone number to verify your identity so please calmly follow the instruction," a man speaking with a heavy accent

"Oh my god, what should I do? Do you want me to press my number or tell you? What prank was it?" Eun Ha asked, perplexed. She was taken by surprise at the sudden information about her bank account. From all the time in the world, why did it have to happen exactly at that time? It was just like out of the frying pan, and fell into the fire.

"Gullible customer, please calm down. And take a deep breath. Breath in~ breath out~ You must be collected at a times like this. Now, if you've taken a deep breath, please go ahead and say I love you~"

Eun Ha didn't believe what she just heard. Was it a prank? Again?

"Honey, I love you~ Is it okay? So my bank account is okay right? Anyway, what does honey I love you had anything to do with it? Hey, do I need to tell you my number now? You didn't answer any of my questions before.. My money is save right? Well, even though I didn't have that much money, but still.. It was my money.. Please tell me my money is not gone…"

She bombarded the caller with a bunch of questions as she didn't want to get a consecutive misfortune. Being led into a suspicious office tel was more than enough for her.

But the caller only laughed hysterically at her chortle.

"Hahahahahhahaa you do have so many questions,"

"Of course I have.. Please tell me.." Eun Ha muttered in hope, biting her thumb nails as she was so dead afraid her money would gone to waste

The caller giggled, "I'm sorry.. I was just joking~ I'm Seven. Agent 707 in the chat room, Defender of Justice coming to rescue!" Seven said in a upbeat voice

"Seven? You are that Seven from the chat room, right?" she asked dumbfoundedly, "So.. it was a joke? Then.. my bank account is secure?" she asked again out of curious

"Yes, totally saved. Sorry, I played with you a little. You're cute,"

She felt her face hotter. It was the second time he called her cute like that, making her wonder whether he used to say that to any woman he encountered.

"Hey, I'm older than you. Shouldn't you call me noona?" she decided teased him a bit

"Noona? Hmm, you don't feel like a noona to me. You're so small, 157 or 159 cm perhaps?" Seven asked

"Actually, it's 155 cm," Eun Ha replied, honestly

"Whooah, you're shorter than you seem!" Seven exclaimed, aghast

She looked left to her heels she placed near the door and looked back at her feet. She wore a 7 cm long of heels that night, so Seven might mistook her height.

"By the way, what was that waving to CCTV?" Seven asked, giggling, interrupted her pondering about her height

"You saw me?" she asked, embarrassed

"Of course I saw you. I'm a hacker you know. I know everything within this world…." Seven said, bragging, pressing an 'e' in everything when he said it

"Oh really? So, do you know who I really am? I might be a serial killer you know.." she joked

"That face? Serial killer? Woow, is this an Orphan Movie when the serial killer looked like a little girl who in fact a grown up woman?" he giggled harder now

"I'm still 3 years older than you. Well, I'm short indeed. But that's because I stopped growing when I was in 5th grade of elementary school!" she said, half screaming, half giggling

Seven made an echoing laughter. She could hear it too when she put her phone on the table. She should be annoyed by Seven's joke, but she found it amusing enough and hilarious too.

"Hey, satisfied?" Eun Ha asked, trying hard not to laugh too.

"Ahahaha yes.. You are so hilarious.. I haven't laughed like this for a loooooong time now. Is there really someone who stopped growing at 5th grade elementary school?"

"Well, yes.. I am.." Eun Ha started pouting

And he started laughing again..

"Well, anyway.. You must have felt confused by this situation," Seven said after he could stop his laughter, "What do you feel now?"

"Well, I'm sleepy. It's 2 am in the morning, but I was alone in this office tel,"

"Are you afraid of ghost~?" he asked sotto voce, "There might be one lurking beneath you as we speak~"

Eun Ha shuddered, "Hey! Don't even start!"

The caller only laughed again at Eun Ha's pouting. He might have found Eun Ha bullyable at his constant prank. Lucky for him though, he found one other person to bully apart from Yoosung.

"Sorry m'lady~" he giggled, "Anyway, Eun Ha.."

"Yes?" she asked

"Well.. Have you considered working with us? Filling Rika's shoes I mean," he asked

"Hmm," she pondered as she remembered what Unknown said in the previous chat. He said that his religion told him it wouldn't be nice to decline another's request. She put up with it. Maybe Unknown was right. If she could help, even for a bit, maybe it was not too harmful to make a party happen again, "Perhaps it would be nice to help you guys.. If you shall have me, I mean.."

There was a yelp of happiness in the other side, "Thank you, my lady! Of course! It is us who should say our gratitude to you.."

Eun Ha let out a smile. She was imagining this Seven guy was smiling brightly as they speak, with his yellow black stripes pattern glasses slanted a few inches from his eyes, "You're welcome.." she giggled

"Now.." he clapped his palm to something that sounded like his thigh, "I must tell you one other important thing in order to work with RFA,"

"What is it?" she furrowed her brows

"It is essential that you stay in Rika's office tel while you work with us,"

"What?" she was confused

"Yes.." he answered positively, "Emails that the guests send will be transferred to your phone through computer in Rika's room. I had it set like that. So, you need to stay there from now on," there was no answer from Eun Ha, "Well – what do you think?"

"Hmm, why can't I work in my own apartment? Doesn't emails could be received from anywhere in this planet now? I mean, anywhere with internet connection.." she tried to reason him

"I'm sorry.. But the emails for this RFA Party must be protected. And you didn't just receive emails from the usual consumer services like Gmail or Yahoo, this application is specially made by the genious agent 707!" he bragged again, added by giggling, "So, if you didn't stay in Rika's office tel, the emails wouldn't be sent and received,"

"Aah, I see. It is very confidential, huh? The guests' information, I mean,"

"Yes,"

"Okay then. I'll do it. I'll move here until the party over," she answered

"Yes! You've made an excellent choice, my lady with long-brown hair," he replied in delight

"Okay then.." she chuckled, "Say, Seven.. If I need to stay here, I have to go home first to prepare things, right? Well, can you pick me up? You said in the messenger that you already know this place right? So, can you? I'm a bit scared to go outside actually.." Eun Ha said in a serious tone

There was no answer for at least 5 seconds there. So, she assumed that she had stepped over the line there.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to press you or something. Please forget what I just said," Eun Ha spluttered

A silent treatment continued. Eun Ha didn't dare to make an attempt to speak first, therefore, she waited the other person to speak first. The needle in her watch showed it had passed more than 30 seconds, and no words coming out from the caller. She was about to utter something to break the silence when he suddenly cut her off.

"Sorry. But I couldn't." Seven said in a slightly different tone

There was some sort of distant grieve in his tone, like a voice people uttered in the funeral. There was no happiness, only hollow.. Eun Ha tried to figure out the different attitudes this guy had for the past few minutes, but she failed. She had never met someone who could be joking happily in one time and get mysterious in the next minutes.

"Yes, I understand. Soooo," Eun Ha tried to change the conversation, "I could go back to my apartment first right? I needed my clothes in order to stay here, you know."

"Ah yes. You may go home. Please be careful."

Again, there was no joking tone in his voice. She felt a bit curious though, but decided not to ask further.

"Yes. Thank you for your care my little brother.." Eun Ha giggled

"But still, I'm waaaay more taller than you.." Seven teased, back with his normal joking tone

"Liar, how could I know how tall you are if you are the only one who could see me.."

"Well, you can never know for sure, because Seven Zero Seven is Defender of Justice! Always hide your mask to protect your beloved ones! Beep beep beep!"

"Hahahaha okay okay, I understand. Anyway, thank you so much for this phone call. I'll be back after I pack my things. So, sayonara.."

"Okay, sayonaraaaa~"

She clicked her phone. And she stood up from her chair.

"Well, see you in a moment, Rika's office tel. Perhaps you would be a witness to anything that occurred days after this.." she said, caressing the edge of the table

She muttered her temporary good bye to the office tel and got out from there. She saw the CCTV again. Knowing that Seven might see her, she bowed like a princess and waved to the CCTV. She gave him a sweetest smile she could ever give. She didn't want to make Seven think that she felt a heavy burden in her shoulder, though she did. She should assure him that everything was going to be okay.

But what she didn't know was, a man behind CCTV had to suppress his urge not to come and rescue her as soon as possible from that office tel. He felt a strange sensation in his heart when he saw her bowing toward CCTV. He bit his lip so hard and watched her got inside the elevator while clenching her fist and closing her eyes. Was there something wrong with her? Why did she have to clench her fist and close her eyes? And what would happen from now on? Would everything be okay?

…

02.00 The Lobby

Eun Ha got out from that elevator half running. There was no one there in the lobby except for the receptionist. She called a cab to get home because clearly, there would no longer bus available in the early morning like this. After waiting for a while, her cab came and she got into the cab while saying goodbye to the receptionist. She told the driver her apartment address and laid her body down to the seat. With her head on the window, she kept on remembering how she could end up into that office tel. And she got to remember every member's name as soon as possible.

There were Jumin, Yoosung, Zen, Jaehee, V, and Seven, well one other person, the deceased Rika. They grouped together to create an organization called RFA – Rika's Fundraising Association – a charity organization which could save people in need, that was something new to her.

" _Sounds cool enough"_ , she thought for herself.

Even though she tried hard not to feel burdened, reaching everyone's expectation was not an easy thing to do. She didn't know how to make a party. Did she have to take care of catering, or music, or venues of party?

Eun Ha was pondering about the future party she had to handle when suddenly a chat came in. It was from Yoosung apparently. She opened up the chat room, and read his chat.

Yoosung : I really want to get to know you more, Eun Ha..

Eun Ha : I'm quite a unique person you know..

She decided to tease him a bit.

Yoosung : Why? Are you famous person or something?

Eun Ha : Maybe.. I might have gone to one of your classes Yoosung.. Lol

Yoosung : Ah… I forgot that you are assistant lecturer.. T_T

Yoosung : Please, don't pinch me when I slept at your class.. T_T

" _He was too cute,"_ she thought.. So, she decided to tease him more..

Eun Ha : Well, no.. But maybe I could kiss you a bit.. I heard that's how a prince waking up the Snow White.. ^^

Yoosung : A.. a… a… ki…kiii….. KISS?! Are you sure?!

She burst out laughing. The driver seemed a bit startled too when Eun Ha laughed at sudden.

Eun Ha : Hahahahahha of course I'm joking. Who on earth would do that to you.. Hahaha

Yoosung : Hmmph.. don't tease me T_T

Yoosung : Why does everyone like to tease me? T_T

Eun Ha : Maybe.. because you're cute? ^^

Yoosung : Whoaaaahhhh.. Thank you!

Yoosung sent smily emoji

Eun Ha : Ah, Yoosung. I'm sorry but I have to go. My cab has arrived in front of my apartment. Talk to you later, ok? Ciao!

Yoosung : Ok ^^

Eun Ha has left the chatroom

She paid the cab and said her gratitude toward the driver. She was glad enough she could get home save. She opened her apartment door and put her stuff on her couch. She took a shower long enough as she was remembering her phone call with Seven.

"Seven.. Is he the mood maker in RFA group?" Eun Ha asked herself

She had a habit of talking to herself. She found it quite helpful for her days.

"Geez, he must have found me a weird girl waving to CCTV…"

She covered her face out of embarrassment. She knew someone would probably saw her footage in CCTV, but she didn't think that anyone would practically laugh watching her. But she couldn't help smiling a bit while remembering Seven. She liked his outgoing personality. She had a hunch that she could get close to him in a matter of days, or maybe.. hours?

But it was not Seven that she really wanted to get close to. She wanted to know more about Zen. She was interested in his job as a musical actor. Basically she loved music, moreover classic. Opera was her thing. Plus he was indeed so handsome. He looked a bit older than her, even though he was a year younger than her. There was something different about Zen. From all the members, he was the one who accepted her for the first time without any suspicion. A grin didn't fade. She didn't realize she was smiling when picturing Zen. She couldn't wait to get to know him more.

After she stepped out of the bathroom, she laid her body to her bed. There were so many things that happened in the past few hours. She decided to close her eyes for a while, before started packing in the morning.

…

07.30 am, Kang Jaehee's apartment

Looking up her collection of Zen's musical DVD made Kang Jaehee's morning a bit better than last night. She still couldn't accept the new member of RFA. Lee Eun Ha.. that was her name if she was not mistaken. She felt annoyed with everyone's quick adjustment of the new member. Their suspicion might be blinded by their full trust of V. She couldn't understand why they trust Eun Ha so easily. She didn't give a damn. Plus, Zen was one of the members. The idea of them getting together as time passes frightened her till the bone. She would never let them have feelings for each other.

It was not because she had some sort of feelings toward Zen, but it was her duty as a hardcore fans of him to maintain his career soaring higher as time passes. She couldn't let anything – anyone – got in the way of his career, for her only happiness in this dreadful life was only watching Zen's acting on the stage.

She took a sip of her favorite morning coffee. The aroma of freshly grinned coffee and the light sensation of caffeine soothed her upset mind a bit. She really loved coffee. Ever since the company had a grinding machine, her quantity of drinking coffee had increased. Without her knowledge, coffee had become her friend while staying late at the office.

Being an assistant to Han Jumin required a strong will and strong heart. Jumin's ignorance sometimes made her blood boils to the core. Like a few days ago, Mr. Chairman, Jumin's father, made a request to Jumin's department to take care of a new project. The proposals of the company's next projects were scattered in the desk. She picked the closest proposal from the table. It was the proposal of the new coffee shop franchise that Mr. Chairman's new girlfriend wished to have. Jumin asked her to do the research about it. Nonetheless, Jumin didn't really fancy the new project at all. He told Jaehee not to do the research wholeheartedly. She ignored her boss request. On the contrary, she made the perfect report on this coffee project. It was the first time she found her job interesting.

Suddenly her phone rang. Jumin called her. It was a bit strange as he stated once that he didn't like to hear Jaehee's voice outside the company. Nevertheless, she picked it up.

"Assistant Kang, it's me," Jumin said in his deep low voice

"Yes Mr. Han, is there something wrong?" Jaehee asked

"I want you to help Lee Eun Ha moving out from her current apartment this morning," Jumin commanded

Jaehee felt a little mind to do what Jumin told her. Didn't Rika's office tel address was a secret? How could he tell her to help that girl moving out? It didn't make any sense.

"I'm sorry Mr. Han, sir. But, isn't Rika's office tel's address a secret? How could I help her move out?" Jaehee asked, trying so hard not to let her upset voice heard by her boss

"I feel that she may require a safe transport. Just drop her off closer to her destination. That might help her a bit,"

Jaehee wanted to say her disapproval, but she couldn't say it. She was merely an assistant to him. All that she could do was approving Jumin's order, otherwise her job would be in jeopardy.

"I'll do as you order Mr. Han," Jaehee said unwillingly

"Yes. And make sure you tell her what she needed to do to prepare the party. She should get used to this organization as soon as possible,"

"Yes, Mr. Han,"

She hung up the phone. Organizing her thoughts for a while, then grabbed her phone again. She didn't know Eun Ha's phone number yet. She thought of calling Luciel, he might already know since he was the hacker in this group.

She waited for Luciel picking up her call. She drifted her eyes to the scattered proposals in the desk. She hadn't quite finished them, yet she was assigned to do another job. She released a long sigh and tried to do her job well. There was no room for complaining.

After a few ringing, the hacker picked up her call.

"Good morning~ You are connected to the Defender of Justice headquarter. My name is Secret Agent 707. May I help you?" Seven answered. He teased Jaehee by playing a role of being an assistant.

She exhaled, "Can you tell me Lee Eun Ha's phone number? Mr. Han told me to talk with her about the party.." Jaehee explained. She wasn't in the mood of joking. She needed the answer right away.

"If I may ask you, what business you plan to do with her?" Seven asked robotically

"I've said it before. Mr. Han wanted me to give Eun Ha a brief explanation about the party. He thought that she needed that.."

"My apologies, but I'm sure I haven't got your name. May I know your name madam?" he cut Jaehee's words

She couldn't take it anymore.

"LUCIEL!"

She raised her voice. Seven was indeed a joker every single time..

"Whoaahh…. Jaehee~ Please pity my ear.. My ear is so delicate.. I need it so~ much.. You are so meeaaaan!" Seven pouted

Jaehee sighed. She really didn't need a joke at the current time, "Please, I have no time for joking…" Jaehee said, desperately

"Well then.. I'm afraid I must tell you then.."

"Thank you," Jaehee said, relieved

"But, I'll have to get something from you~ It's a win win~" Seven said, jokingly

"What is it?"

"Let me play with Elly~~~"

Jaehee surely knew the answer to that demand. Seven would never get what he wished for, as he was once caught on CCTV biting the neck of white fur Persian cat, Elizabeth the 3rd. Jumin would never let Seven play with his beloved cat ever again after that.

"Jumin always commend her cat to you Jaehee, and you alwaaaays whine about it, sooooo I want you to trade Elly with Eun Ha's phone number.. How about that?" Seven asked giggling

"There's no way Mr. Han would permit Elizabeth the 3rd in your care. You're a cat abuser," Jaehee answered in her steady tone.

"Whuutz? Cat abuser? Why couldn't you see it as a deep affection between me and Elly~ It's a win win Jaehee~ And you don't have to tell Jumin~ Ok ok?"

"No,"

"You can give Elly to me in secret~ I know all about secret entrance in everyone's building, including your apartment~" Seven giggled a little louder this time.

"No."

"Aish.. So cold! So robotic like Jumin!"

Jaehee never replied to his joking. It was only a waste of time after all.

"Aish.. Ok then, I'll tell you. But~"

"What else?!" she couldn't help raising her volume once again. Seven surely loved to make her angry.

"Do you plan to meet her or just call her?" Seven asked, a bit more serious this time

"I plan to meet her. Maybe in an hour or so. I'd like to ask her whether she is willing to see me this morning," Jaehee said

"Huum~ Why?"

"Do I need to go to your house and strangle you and kick your ass right now?"

Jaehee's voice was as steady as always but she would probably make those threats come true if he played around a bit longer. Perhaps, he knew about that as well, as he began speaking a bit more serious this time.

"Jaehee~ You're so scary~ Ok ok, I'll stop now," Seven gave up, "Well, if you want to meet her, please never ask her about Rika's office tel. Okay? I can trust you on that, can't I?"

Seven's voice implied that he was not kidding. He was serious.

"I can guarantee that," Jaehee assured him

"Ok then, I'll message you now,"

"Thanks Seven,"

She hung up her phone. A message consisting Eun Ha's phone number pop out in a second after that. She saved her number and dialed the younger girl.

…

8.00 am, Eun Ha's apartment

Lee Eun Ha had almost done packing when her phone vibrates, a sign of the incoming call. Once again, it was an unknown number. She wondered whether she should pick it up or ignore it. It might just be an insurance agency, trying to sell their service to random people. She never liked this kind of ads. She found it disturbing. But, after ringing for a while, she answered the call eventually. She didn't have a heart rejecting someone's call.

"Hello," Eun Ha answered

"Hello, good morning. I'm Kang Jaehee, Mr. Han's assistant," Jaehee said

Her voice was clear and firm, Eun Ha could feel her dominance personality. Sometimes she couldn't get along well with this kind of women, but she gave it a shot for now. She shouldn't judge a person by the voice only.

"Ah, Jaehee-shi. Nice to hear from you. How do you know my number if I may ask?" Eun Ha asked

"Luciel told me,"

Jaehee's answer was cold and monotone. Eun Ha didn't say a word. Perhaps Jaehee still upset about last night? Jumin and Jaehee were not on the same page as the others, and Eun Ha still remembered how Jaehee was going to call the police to arrest her on an attempt of breaking and entry. It was not so pleasant for a first impression.

"Hello, you're still there?" Jaehee asked curiously

"Yes mam,"

Eun Ha got her tongue slipped. She didn't mean to call Jaehee with mam.

"Mam? Do you think I'm much older than you?" Jaehee said, she did sound upset now.

"I'm sorry, I slipped, sorry," Eun Ha said. She felt really sorry. She didn't mean to make her upset or something but Jaehee's dominance voice made Eun Ha accidentally address her as a mam.

Jaehee sighed, "Well, never mind. I'd better explain my purpose of calling you then,"

"Okay, I'm listening," Eun Ha said

"I got assigned from Mr. Han to help you moving from your apartment and told you how you would do your job as a new host. There were a lot to talk about. I wanted to properly talk to you instead of chatting online," Jaehee said

"Well, I do feel the same,"

"Good. Then, I believe you've packed your needs right now? I will pick you up in an hour from now in your apartment. May I know your current address?" Jaehee asked

"Well, I don't mind. It is not like Rika's old office tel which is secret," Eun Ha said

"Yes, thank you for your cooperation. Then I'll go get ready. See you in an hour,"

"Yes, see you soon, Jaehee-shi," Eun Ha said politely

Eun Ha sent her address to Jaehee. She began to get ready for the meeting. She should use proper clothes to meet her. Jeans and T-shirt might not be a best choice for now, so she put on her semi-formal outfit, dark-chocolate blazer, a shirt, and a skirt might feel a bit fit to meet someone like Jaehee.

She combed her long brown hair and pin her bangs to her right side. She felt like it was decent for her to appear as neat as possible to meet Jaehee. Clearly, Eun Ha had loads of questions about RFA, and maybe Jaehee could answer them.

Jaehee arrived in front of her apartment precisely an hour later. To Eun Ha's shock, Jaehee was standing in front of what seemed to be a limousine. She never saw a limousine for her whole life, so imagining that she and Jaehee would ride a limousine was too splendid. They greeted each other awkwardly and decided to go to the nearby café. Eun Ha's suitcase fitted clothes for a week had been carried away to the trunk by Driver Kim, Jumin's driver.

After a while – Eun Ha couldn't stop jittering and glancing up and down inside the limousine, pretty much making Jaehee furrow her brow at the scene, or at least that was what Eun Ha felt, Jaehee didn't really say much there – they arrived in front of café which displayed butterscotch latte frappe and strawberry pancakes as today's menu. It was rather a nice mixture they got there. Perhaps, Eun Ha should try it.

"I heard coffee and cake in this café are good. Have you been here?" Jaehee asked when they entered the café

"No, I haven't been to any café lately. Busy with works," Eun Ha said sadly

"Well, I understand your situation. I seldom have an opportunity to use my free time. But, that is my job, I couldn't whine," Jaehee said

"Yeah, you're right," Eun Ha said, agreeing at one point with her

Driver Kim stayed in the limo while the girls sat leisurely in the café, waiting for waitress came to take their orders. Eun Ha chose today's menu, while Jaehee chose Belgian Choco Latte and cheese cake. While they were waiting for their orders to come, Jaehee asked the younger girl about her background which Eun Ha answered it all. The older woman got perplexed as she found out Eun Ha originally came from Masan.

"But you don't have any accent.." she lifted her eyebrows, "You speak like Seoul people.. How come?" Jaehee asked confusedly

"Hmm.." the younger girl hummed. It was not the first person asking her about why-she-had-no- _Gyeongsang_ -accent, almost all her new friends asked about that thing than any other questions, "I have lived in Seoul for years now. 6 years.. perhaps.." she looked down and counted those years with her fingers under the table, "Yes.. 6 years.. I started living here since my first year college in Yonsei," she added

Jaehee nodded as a reply. Not a moment later, the waiter brought their coffee and cakes. She loved her butterscotch latte frappe, not only because of its visual – to be honest, she loved whipped cream added by choco granule at the top, best coffee ever – but the caramelized taste, mixed with butter and latte melted in her tongue. Not to mention her strawberry pancakes, it was so soft she almost wanted to sleep on it if it came up in big sized, as big as her bed.. Long story short, they were indeed so good.

"Hmm, you're right. It is very sweet. I think it's gonna be my favorite coffee thanks to you Jaehee-shi," Eun Ha said, smiling brightly

"I'm glad you like it - but more importantly, Eun Ha-shi,"

"Yeah?" Eun Ha asked curiously

"I'd like to ask you something before," Jaehee said with a stern face

"What is it?"

"I feel a bit curious about you," Jaehee said

"About me?"

"Yes.. You are going to spend your days in Rika's office tel from now on, and except you, no one can go near that place," she touched the handle of her latte, eyes looking down to her coffee, "It is quite the irony. We, who've worked with Rika cannot enter the place. And yet you are a complete stranger can stay there…" Jaehee explained

There were no changes in Jaehee's facial expression. Eun Ha couldn't guess what could be in her mind. Neither had any answer to Jaehee's statement.

"The office tel that you are in probably has all the documents relevant to what Rika did. But V told us last night not to open any drawers or computers. I wonder how you put up with Rika's position, hosting the party,"

Eun Ha understood Jaehee's concern as well. Her, being a stranger by the day, came to their organization, and suddenly asked to replace Rika, their last predecessor to host the party. It was a large shoes she had to fill in.

"I'm so sorry If I make you any discomfort Jaehee.." she looked down, "I never attend a party before, so I'm a little lost here. But I will do my very best to make this party happen. That I can promise to you," Eun Ha said, assuring Jaehee

"I like your confidence," Jaehee said, she let out a slight smile in her lips, "Well, let me explain to you about this party then,"

Eun Ha tried to listen carefully.

"Rika exchanged various emails with party guests at the office tel. As far as I know, she approved or declined guest depending on the theme of the party. That is… what you will be responsible of," Jaehee said

"Is the party grand? According to the last party, who are the guests if I could ask? And what's the benefit of the party again?" Eun Ha asked, unable to filter her questions

"Well, in terms of size, it is quite magnificent. But it is not only that. I think it will be meaningful that Rika's mission isn't hindered and continues on. Especially, I presume that V, who hasn't really been involved with the organization after Rika's death, will change. Currently, V is not really active in the organization. So, everyone is probably hoping for V to come back. Except for Yoosung," Jaehee said, her eyes turned into an undecipherable gaze

"Yoosung? Is there something wrong with them both? Are they not in a good term?" Eun Ha asked, curious

"That's not for me to explain. I believe you should hear it directly from them," Jaehee answered non chalantly sipped her coffee

"Okay, sorry," Eun Ha felt guilty for asking

"Ah, don't be," she put down her cup, "It's just, it's better for them to explain it to you directly," Jaehee said

"I see then," Eun Ha said, sipping her coffee once more, "Ah, one more question Jaehee-shi,"

"Yes?"

"How could I find the guest? I have no contacts at all. How can I invite the guest?"

"All of us will recommend the guests as time goes by. We will ask for your permission first if there were a guest in our mind. Of course, it's up to you to approve or decline our suggestion,"

"So, all I need to do is determining who the guests that could come to the party are. Is that correct?" Eun Ha asked

"Yes, that's correct. Do you think you could do that?" Jaehee made sure once again

"Yes. Believe in me! I think I could do that! Thank you for your explanation Jaehee. My mind has been cleansed now.." Eun Ha said, smiling more brightly than ever.

"Hmm, nothing makes my minds cleaner than watching Zen's DVD though.." Jaehee let out a small giggle

"Zen's DVDs? You have them? It was the musical right?" Eun Ha asked in disbelieve

"Yes," Jaehee answered, smiling brighter, "Do you like musical too?"

Jaehee looked a lot happier at the change topic of conversation. She seemed to transform into a high school girl who was after boybands members when they talked about Zen. Of course, Eun Ha could cooperate with Jaehee as she was also Zen's fans.

"Of course! I love musical! I never knew that you like musical as well.."

"Well, if you want to, I could lend you all Zen's DVD. I'm sure it would brighten your day.." Jaehee offered, smiling

"Wow, thank you so much Jaehee.. It would mean a lot! Like.. Literally mean a lot to me.."

Eun Ha felt the burden of becoming host started to disappear. She was glad enough she could meet someone like Zen one day. Not as a fan, but as a friend.

"No need to say that. I'm happy too that you appreciate Zen's work. But.. I have to say this to you right now. If you could, don't ever develop any feelings toward Zen. He is a celebrity, so scandals meant destruction to his career. I hope you understand what I mean," Jaehee said with a serious face

Eun Ha smiled.

"Well, no. I'm sure it's not like that. It is impossible for him to like me. We haven't even met. I like him as a fan only,"

Eun Ha smiled and gobbled her strawberry pancake. She lied. She had a crush on Zen even before she joined the organization. But for now, maybe she had to hide it. Like a mask that she needed to wear in her everyday's life.


	4. Chapter 4

_3 years ago.. In backstage of a theater.._

 _Zen was alone with his director in a small dressing room behind the stage. His long silver hair fall through his broad shoulder into his right cheek, down to his right tibia, as he bent down tidying his right shoe lace. A worn out face could be seen even with the dimly light in the room, though it didn't reduce his full pheromone._

" _I'll get going now," Zen said to his director who was currently working on his computer. He lifted his backpack, staggering at the exit door._

" _You're leaving already?" director asked, surprised, turning his face into the most handsome man in the globe_

" _Yeah, I have to work a night shift," Zen said, emotionless_

" _You should take a break today. You were up on stage for three hours," director uttered in concern_

" _I have to pay the rent. Got no choice. I'll get going,"_

 _Zen opened the exit door. To his surprise, there was someone waiting behind the door._

" _Oh my~! Finally! So you really exit through here!"_

 _A girl with long blond hair stood outside the door, carrying a bouquet of red roses. She was a bit small next to Zen, her height didn't even reach his shoulder. She was smiling ear to ear, her eyes was caught up between amusement and a thrill of pleasure._

"… _You cannot enter,"_

 _Zen told the girl. He was too tired to even say another word._

" _I'm sorry. Can we talk for a moment?" the girl pleaded, "You can call me Rika. You're Zen, right?"_

 _Rika's smile was as bright as the sun. Zen didn't understand why she would be there._

" _Yes…but what's with the flowers?" Zen asked dumbfounded_

" _It's for you!" Rika said with a high notes. She seemed so happy of seeing Zen._

" _For me?"_

" _Yes!" Rika said, smiling brighter every minute_

" _Why?"_

" _You were so good out there today! I almost cried. I wanted to give you an outstanding ovation, but you went behind the curtains too soon," Rika wailed_

 _Zen recoiled, "….I was good?" He couldn't believe what he heard. There was actually someone who appreciated his acting?_

" _Yes! Zen in the role of Oliver, I read it in the pamphlet. You're still very young but your performance was extraordinary!"_

 _Zen was standing still. He never expected any appreciation in his acting. He just did what he loved to do. Even when he had to ran away from his own family to pursue his dream._

" _Here! Take the flowers," Rika said, giving him the bouquet_

" _Oh…" He couldn't say anything. He was too mesmerized with things happened then._

" _You made my day Zen. Thank you so much! You were so great!"_

 _Zen kept his face tight. He didn't want her to know what dwell inside his head. He was afraid that the girl, who called herself Rika, only like him because of his looks, just like everybody else. He hated it. He didn't want to get acknowledge merely based on his looks._

" _Can I get a photo with you?" Rika asked_

 _Photo? Could he really do that? He was not someone who would be asked for a photo together. Ah, right. Zen was so handsome. No wonder why. He was used to this kind of thing. Everyone wanted to touch him or pinch him, ever since he was a boy. Even his teacher got blushed when he gazed at his teacher. His teacher often gave him a chocolate which was actually banned by his mother. He was scared of women back then._

 _But, the girl in front of him looked different. She said that Zen's performance was extraordinary. Did she really mean that?_

" _Uhm, are you serious?" Zen asked_

" _Excuse me?" Rika asked, confused_

" _I was good on stage?"_

 _He wanted to make sure that Rika didn't like him merely because of his looks. Zen wanted to hear that Rika loved his acting. But what if it was not the reason? And what if the director only hired him because he was so handsome? Did he really have no talent?_

" _Yes! You were great! When you got all teary while singing at the last scene… was that in the script? I thought you just got too emotional and acted on the spot!"_

" _Oh that wasn't on the script.."_

 _Did she really love his performance?_

" _I knew it! You were born to be an actor, V is never wrong!" Rika said, "You need to be in a bigger theater than this…! Oh, I can ask Jumin!"_

 _Jumin? V? Who were they? What did she mean by bigger theater? "Sorry?"_

" _Haha, we'll talk about this later. Can I get a photo? Oh, my fiancé had to leave for a sec to take care of the parking. But he'll be back," Rika said. Smile never faded from her face. It was really a beautiful smile._

" _Let's take a photo when he comes! Is that okay?" Rika asked again_

" _Oh… I'm a bit shy," he uttered_

" _Come on! To be honest, this isn't my first time seeing you up on stage. I've been secretly following you for the past two years and seeing all your shows,"_

" _Really? Two years ago is when I barely started.."_

" _Yes. I hope you grow fast. With your looks and acting, you'll become a major musical star in a second!" Rika said, her eyes was glistening in tears of joy_

" _No way.. I doubt I'll become that big."_

 _He wanted the fame so much. He was desperate of it. But how could he.. He was barely alive now. He had to take 3 part time jobs to pay the rent and his food every day. He was afraid to expect things beyond his capability. He was afraid of falling. He was afraid, things that were said by his family came true.. That he would never succeed in acting._

" _Why not? Hmm~ You're more pessimistic than I thought. But the gloominess does give a person more depth. Perhaps that is why you are so convincing," she muttered, "I think you'll become a great actor. Two years ago, you were in a really small theater company. The fact that you're in a fairly larger production now proves that you're growing,"_

 _Rika's stern faith in him made Zen believe that he could be bigger than this. He started to believe that he could overcome his fear by being optimistic._

" _Thank you, for all of that.."_

" _Then, let's take a photo, ok?"_

"… _Alright,"_

" _Great! Let's just wait a bit more until my fiancé comes. I'm so glad I gathered up the courage to wait!" Rika shrieked_

" _Rika.." a man approached them slowly from behind_

 _Zen was a bit startled when he saw the man. He never saw anyone almost as good looking as him. V, that was his name if Zen wasn't mistaken. He was almost as tall as Zen, perhaps 4 cm shorter. With V's turquoise eyes and hair and slender yet firm body, he looked like a model of catwalk._

" _Hi, I'm V, Rika's fiancé," V held out his hand to shake_

" _Yes, I've heard of you. I'm Zen," he shook hand with V_

" _Is it your real name?" V asked_

 _Zen clenched his jaw. He never wanted anyone else knew his real name. It was hurtful of him. It reminded him of his family that he hated._

" _No,"_

" _Then, what is your real name?" V asked again_

 _Zen didn't say a word. He never wanted to tell anyone his name. It seemed like Rika knew what dwells inside Zen's mind. She stopped V right away._

" _Ah.. No need to ask for further V," she held out her hand to pat V's upper hand, "I'm sorry Zen. V is sometimes so curious. He asked my real name too when we met for the first time. But I didn't tell him for a loooong time," Rika said, giggling_

 _V laughed, "Yes, I'm sorry of my rudeness.. But I'm sure we'll become closer as the time goes by.."_

 _Could they really become closer?_

" _Ok then, let's take a picture. Ah, let me arrange my tripod first,"_

 _V arranged his tripod for a moment._

" _Yes, it's finished," said V, "On the count of three, I will press this button. Please keep your eyes to the camera, ok?"_

" _Okay Mr. Photographer.." Rika said_

" _Okay, One…Two…Tree.."_

 _Click… Zen was standing between Rika and V. He didn't put a smile in his face. He thought he would never meet them again in the future, so there was no need to put emotion in the picture. But he was wrong. They become his family eventually. Even more than his own family._

…

12.00 pm

Lee Eun Ha was standing on the balcony. With a cup of hot coffee and VIXX's song heard from her iPod, she was recalling the incident that occurred a few hours ago. She was led to this office tel by the person named Unknown. In no time, she joined a group called RFA, Rika's Fundraising Association. She remembered how shocked RFA's member when she joined at sudden.

She just met one of the members, Kang Jaehee, this morning. She gave her a brief explanation about the organization and a job that Eun Ha need to do. Driver Kim took Eun Ha to a nearby station because the location of this office tel was a secret. Even though Eun Ha was still unsure in how she would do her job, she gave it a shot first. She believed that she could do it. Answering emails from guests? That didn't sound so difficult to her. Moreover, every member was willing to help her about the list of guests. So she wouldn't have to worry.

Despite all the unfortunate events with being deceived at first and being suspected by some members of RFA, there was the one who never even suspicious of her from the first time. Zen.. He was so different from the others. He didn't need to hear about the background check that Seven did to her. He knew that Eun Ha was innocent.

Zen.. Could they become closer as the time passed? She really hoped that it came true..

Suddenly her phone vibrates. It was a call from an unknown number. She didn't have to wonder who it might be anymore. It might be one of the members. She smiled a bit before she pressed the button.

"Hello," Eun Ha answered

"Babe, you picked right away. What were you doing? Thinking of me?" a man's voice rang in her ear.

Oh my.. Was it Zen? She had a hunch that it was Zen..

"Zen?" Eun Ha asked sotto voce

"Of course! You knew me right away! You must have me in your mind all the time.." Zen replied, laughing

Even his laughter was so dazzling.

Eun Ha felt her face burned. How could he know what she thought? She tried to answer him right away, but her words seemed stuck in her throat. She couldn't find the right answer to cope with Zen.

"So.. How's living over there feels like, princess?" he asked in his mellifluous tone

A small yelp came out from the girl's mouth. She shut her eyes and silently stomped her feet to calm her nerve, "It's.. fine," she answered, after she re-arranged her fast-pace heart back to normal, but still unable to stop grinning, "I have finished cleansing the whole corner of this office tel as a matter of fact,"

"Good!" he replied, "Ah~ I wish I knew where you are now~ I could have helped you clean up or something,"

Her heart was beating uncontrollably again now, "I wish I could.. But V and Seven told me not to.." she answered

He hissed, "They are indeed the most secretive person in this whole planet. I think alien is the best way to describe Seven. He's always so hyper. But he's really good at what he does. I don't know exactly what he does, but I heard he's the best hacker in the world,"

"Hacker?" she asked

"Yes," he answered, "All I know is he worked for a secret intelligent agency. But that kid made a lot of cash from his work, he loved buying sport cars,"

"Sport cars?" she asked flabbergasted

"Yeah, there are several in his house,"

The conversation she had with Seven the other night resurfaced. She never thought Seven was that sort of guy. Somehow her imagination went wild again to her favourite scene from Die Hard 4th movie, Live Free or Die Hard, basically a movie about chaos in United States because of a certain cyber terrorists who hack into government and commercial computers to start a fire sell – an attack designed to target the nation's infrastructure that is reliant on computerized system, such as stock prices and transportation. _"Seven didn't really work with that kind of circumstances, did he?"_ she thought

"Hey, you know.. To be honest, after you joined our organization, I thought a lot about our previous parties. You wouldn't know since you weren't there, but we never thought that we wouldn't be able to hold more parties then. We thought.. We'd always follow Rika's lead and prepare party then having a party over and over again.. We all laughed together, and it made us all feel so comfortable," Zen said

The party must have represent Rika's good will to the world. Rika's determination to do good for everyone was indeed admirable. Everyone must have a great expectation from Eun Ha to do better than Rika. The burden of doing her work started to pervade her mind again. Could she be as good as Rika, or was she only a burden for everyone? She wouldn't know for sure. But she was determined that she would do the best for everyone's sake.

"I see.. I'll work hard to make sure things are even better this time!" Eun Ha said

"Wow~ You're strong! Alright, I'll support you as best as I can like a knight in a shining armor. Feel free to tell me if you need anything. I'm a knight who exist for the princess.." Zen exclaimed in delight

Zen's sweet words made her feel numb on her body. She didn't expect she could have a conversation with him.

"I can't wait to see what RFA does to you as a member. There are so many things I want to do already. Let's make some memories together, okay?"

"Yes, thank you so much for your support Zen. I hope that I could meet your expectation," Eun Ha replied

"Hmm~ I know that you would do great, babe,"

Babe? She could hardly breathe when Zen called her 'babe'. Did they become closer already? No, he wouldn't mean that. He must have called every girl like that. She shouldn't have her hopes high.

"Even though we haven't met, your voice tells me that you are a warm hearted person. I've been a musical actor for 5 years now, and I've played and learned various characters, so I know that someone who has a pure voice like that, could mean no harm," Zen explained

Eun Ha couldn't control her body. Her hands were shaking so hard that she had to put down her cup of coffee. She couldn't take his words any longer.

She closed her eyes. She remembered something from her past. Something very dearly that occurred in her life. She would never forget it, but maybe Zen forgot it, or he might never even remembered it..

…

 _4 years ago.._

" _Eun Ha, let's go to café!" a girl who sat beside her suddenly aroused and grabbed Eun Ha by the arm, asking her to join visiting sort of place, "I heard there's a new opening of café today. We'd like to try it. Wanna come?" Yeon Hee asked_

 _The ring of bell as a sign of class was over was still heard at the background. The girls – probably four or five – flocked around her, blocking the light that came up from the sun beyond the window. All smiles at her, asking her to come with them._

" _No, I'm passed. I have another promise, sorry," Eun Ha said smiling back at them, packing up her stuff_

" _With whom?" Yeon Hee asked curiously_

" _Hmm.. With a friend of mine.. Sorry, but I really need to go now. Sorry.. Ask me another time, okay?" Eun Ha said, rushed out from the classroom_

 _Eun Ha had got to get out from that situation. She couldn't tell her friends that she couldn't afford to go to café. Money was something she didn't have the luxury with. It was barely enough for her daily needs. Her father was only working as a high school teacher in Masan – he taught art and music, influencing their only daughter to fond of classic songs and opera – and her mother was a stay-at-home wife. She didn't have a heart to ask them more money than they could give._

 _She got used to only eat one meal a day. She told herself that it was enough for a living. She could get water as much as possible if she ever got hungry. That was what she told herself repeatedly._

 _It was noon at that time. It was the time for her to get her one meal a day. She went into the convenience store nearby, and planned to have a cup of ramyeon. She took the ramyeon, poured the hot water in it, and walked to the cashier. She took out her wallet only to find no paper inside it. Nothing. Not a single penny. That ramyeon was only 1,200 won, but she had no money to pay. Where could the money go? She remembered she put some of her money that morning._

" _Miss, do you have any problem?" the man in the cashier asked her_

 _Eun Ha couldn't look at him. She couldn't tell him she didn't have the money because she had already poured the hot water on the ramyeon._

" _Did you lose your money?" the man asked again_

 _She kept her sight at her ramyeon. She was embarrassed to look up._

 _Suddenly, an angelic face popped out in front of her face. She was a bit startled at the sudden gesture. It was the first time she looked at the most beautiful person in the world. He was a man, but he was dazzlingly beautiful._

 _Even more beautiful than her._

 _She couldn't take her eyes from him. He was so slender yet firm of musles at the same time. He was so tall, probably around 180 cm, quite contrast with her only 155 cm height. And_ _he had his long thicked silver hair styled in perfect ponytails and bangs to cover his forehead. She studied his gentle demeanor for a few moments in silence._ _It was like seeing a Greek statue coming to life or something. She wondered whether she had to call a museum to ask if one of the most beautiful statues had gone missing._

" _Miss?"_

 _Apparently it was the cashier guy. He leaned forward so he could see Eun Ha's face._

" _Ah, I'm sorry.." Eun Ha said, woke up from her daydreaming_

" _Any problems miss? I'm sure you want to eat your ramyeon as soon as possible. You don't want it to get more swelled up than this," the man said smiling_

 _God, it was the most beautiful smile that she had ever seen, Eun Ha thought._

" _Ah, yes.. I'm sorry… I.." Eun Ha decided to tell him the truth, "I'm sure I had put my money in my wallet this morning. I didn't know why it would disappear. I'm sorry.. What should I do.. I have poured the water already.."_

 _Eun Ha felt really guilty of it. That man pity Eun Ha as well._

" _If you had just notice you didn't bring any money now, how did you have your breakfast?" the man asked out of curiosity_

" _Ah, I didn't have a breakfast.." Eun Ha answered in a very low voice_

 _The man seemed to have another question in his tongue. But he decided not to ask anyway. Instead, he offered her his help._

" _Well, you need to eat it right away then. It's my treat for today.." the man said smiling_

" _What? But.. I couldn't.." her words got cut_

" _No.. no.. No but.. You've got to eat right now.. It's on the house for today.. But, you've got to take this bread as well. Here, take this," the man said, handing her a loaf of bread_

" _But why?" she asked, gazing directly at his beautiful pair of red eyes. Did he wear contact lenses?_

" _I know what it felt like not having money to buy food. So I must insist you take my treat today, okay?" he convinced her_

" _Okay, thank you.. But, may I know your name?"_

" _I'm Zen.. Nice to meet you,"_

 _Zen.. That name would linger in Eun Ha's heart from that moment on until she lost her breaths. She looked up at her savior and gave him a gratitude look through her eyes, which he returned it with the sweetest smile that he could ever give._

…

"Hello.. Hello.. Eun Ha.. Are you there?" Zen asked

"Ah, yes. I'm here.. Sorry, I dozed off for a while there.. The wind from the balcony is so nice," Eun Ha said, flying back to her present day

Zen laughed toward Eun Ha's explanation.

"What? So~ you were sleeping? Waaaaah, my voice could sway a little girl like you to go to sleep huh? Hahahaa.."

Eun Ha let out a smile on her face.

"Yes, you have a very sweet voice, Zen.." Eun Ha giggled

Zen pretended to get a heart attack because of Eun Ha's words. That made Eun Ha giggled even more.

"Yaah, don't say those sweet words, do you want me to die of heart attack?" Zen teased

"No, of course I don't want you die," Eun Ha said, she loved teasing Zen

"Ahaha you're so cute," Zen said

Eun Ha's face was at the same color with a tomato at that time. Gladly she was alone, otherwise anyone else might mistake her getting a cold or something.

"Zen, can I ask you something?"

"Anything babe,"

"How is your musical?" Eun Ha asked

"Good, it's surprisingly good now. Thanks to Rika's party 2 years ago, I still got my sponsors intact. Apparently Christopher Nolan wants to cast me for a role today. I'm still waiting for that role, actually," he answered

"Nolan? You mean.. that famous Batman Trilogy Hollywood director want to cast you? Are you serious?" Eun Ha shrieked at the mention of her favourite director

"Yes.. That famous director," he giggled

"Wow! I'm so happy for you, Zen!" she shrieked and jolted in happiness, "So, you will go to Hollywood now?"

"Perhaps.." he chukled, "Well, let's hope it will come true.. It was all thanks to Rika's party to be honest. It was packed with sponsors. There were a lot of people from the art industry," Zen explained

"The party was that big?" Eun Ha asked, she felt a bit pressure

"Yes, it was. To be honest, it was all thanks to Rika. She was so good at dealing with people and talking. I thought she was using some sort of magic or something. I didn't really see that when we first met. Well, it's probably because of Rika's amazing convincing skill and V's fame that the parties were so influential. Since everyone wanted to buy V's work,"

"Fame? Work?" Eun Ha asked

"Yeah. V's a photographer and he's really famous within the industry. He refuses interviews and stays hidden, so he's not popular. But V's photos draw people in. And he doesn't usually sell his photographs but at the parties he made an exception, so more people came. But…" he stopped talking, "I don't think I should go into detail about V. He doesn't like other people talking about him. He is quite… secretive, just like Seven. But he's a really good person. I respect him a lot," Zen said

"Hmm I see.. I'm glad you told me something about V and Rika, Zen. It's too bad Rika died too soon. No wonder V became so apathetic this late 1,5 years. I would be devastated too if someone so dearly for me die," Eun Ha said sympathetic

"Yeah, me too," Zen frowned, "Anyway, I really am looking forward to your contribution in RFA. But don't feel too pressured, okay? If you have any problem or anything, feel free to call me anytime,"

"Yeah, thank you Zen. It really means a lot to me. I thank you too for not being suspicious from the first time I joined RFA," Eun Ha said

"No need to say that. I know that you are innocent," Zen replied, giggling, "Ah, Eun Ha. I'm so sorry. There are a few people who wanted to see me, I have to hang up this call.."

"Okay.. Let's speak in another time. It was nice hearing your voice, Zen," Eun Ha said

"No problem senorita~ Then, I'm going now. Bye bye," Zen said

"Bye,"

Eun Ha didn't click the end call button. She hoped she could hear his voice over and over again. She should have recorded it. She liked him so much.

…

12.30 Zen's rehearsal room

Zen ended his phone call with Eun Ha and put a slight smile in his face. It was rather a nice conversation he had with her, though he had no idea how she looked like. He couldn't wait until they could finally meet at the party, or perhaps, they could arrange a date or something before the party even started.

"Oppa~ what are you doing?" Fans no 1 asked him

Zen was awakened at the call. He turned to see a girl in her high school uniform stared flirtly at him, "Hmm, I've just called a friend of mine," Zen replied, smiling

"Oppa~ Can we take a picture together? I'm your number one fans you know~" Fans no 2 said, flirting

"Of course we could take a picture. My life is for you, love," Zen said, winking while going toward the girls

A bunch of fan girls cried out loud because of Zen's flirt. They got so thrilled that Zen called them love, moreover when Zen put his hand in their shoulders when they took a picture together.

"Zen, let's continue our practice," the Director said

"Yes sir," Zen said

Zen waved to his fans as he walked toward the stage once more. The girls bowed to him and walked out of the room.

He was on his dancing lesson of the upcoming musical drama. He and a few other actors and actresses were learning a new choreography of a classical masquerade scene. Zen loved the stage, the theater, and the music. He would trade anything to be up on stage including his own family, even his love story.

Deep down he longed for someone he could cherished more than anything, but a part of him didn't want to take a risk of losing his career as an actor. He was not famous enough. He needed to be more famous in order to maintain his career.

He couldn't love, he wouldn't love, he mustn't love.. That was the path he chose. His life was for his fans and musical after all.

…

12.30 pm, Rika's office tel

Eun Ha still lingered with her phone. She was staring into her pitch black screen as if she wished Zen to call her again. But she knew he wouldn't likely to call again. She was so stupid of wishing something impossible.

She walked into the office tel and put her phone on the table. It had not passed one second, yet there was another call for Eun Ha. She rushed into her phone, grinning on her face as she thought her wish came true, but it didn't. It was a call from her professor. The sign of another class she had to take as an assistant lecturer.

"Hello, professor. I am Lee Eun Ha,"

"Yes, Eun Ha-shi. Could you replace me tomorrow afternoon? I have another assignment that I can't let go," Professor said bluntly

"Yes sir, I'm free tomorrow afternoon,"

"Good. I'll email you about the materials and list of the students now. And give them a quiz after class. I'm counting on you, Eun Ha-shi,"

"Yes sir, thank you sir,"

Eun Ha clicked her phone off and turn on her laptop to check on email. She got the materials and a sheet of quiz. She checked the list of students and her eyes widened as she read one of student's name she knew. She smiled widely. She couldn't wait until tomorrow come. She had never felt so happy of teaching until this moment.

…

11.00 pm, at Yoosung's apartment

The arrival of the new member made Yoosung so excited to things that bound to happen in the next days. The idea of hosting another party and doing another fundraising made him excited yet sad. It was complicated. Lee Eun Ha was said to be the replacement of Rika. It was undeniable that Yoosung wanted to feel Rika through Lee Eun Ha. He knew that Eun Ha and Rika was completely different person, but for the time being, Yoosung couldn't erase Rika's figure from Eun Ha.

Jealousy filled Yoosung's heart. She was in Rika's office tel, surrounded by traces of Rika, instead of him, who had the same blood with her. He wanted to go to the office tel too, but it was said to be secret. He didn't understand why it had to be a secret. Seven knew all along, but he didn't tell anyone about it.

" _What kind of organization is this to have a secret? RFA is a charity organization right? Or maybe it wasn't only a charity?"_ Yoosung thought

He was afraid of guessing. He blamed V for not telling anyone about anything. Even about Rika's death.

V told everyone that Rika was no longer in this world. He said that she decided to end her life. But how could she? She always smiles in front of Yoosung. She was the one who always give courage to Yoosung. She was the one who made Yoosung realized that happiness could come to us whenever we smile. That was why he always smiles.

Yoosung ended up looking at photo albums, photos from elementary school, middle school, and high school. He was Rika's cousin, but they never met until he was in 6th grade of elementary school, at a family dinner. He went to her because he had to satisfy his volunteering requirements in middle schools. Rika was so beautiful when she did the volunteer work. She was like a magician to him. Yoosung loved her deeply since then.

Unlike usual, he didn't log in to his LOLOL's game that night. LOLOL, acronym for League of Loneliness of Life, was a popular online game these days. He used to play it day and night. There was no single day without playing LOLOL. Apparently he ranked number 2 in Shooting Star server. And he always bragged to the other members about it.

But he didn't like to play it at that night. His mind was clouded by Rika and Eun Ha. He chose to lie on his bed. He closed his eyes, but he couldn't sleep. He checked his phone again. He logged in to the RFA app only to find no one online. Well, everyone probably didn't feel as excited as him about today.

Everyone moved on from Rika's death in no time as well. V didn't cry at her funeral, Jumin cried for a while but he returned to his normal self a day after that, Zen and Seven didn't cry at all, and Jaehee was pretty much the same. Yoosung was the only one who didn't accept Rika's death. He didn't believe that Rika could end her own life. She wasn't crazy to begin with. V.. he was such a bullshit..


	5. Chapter 5

_8 years ago.._

 _A dark brown haired young boy stuffed his plate with the meal in front of him. Mostly garden stuff, not to mention, his family indeed had a large garden at the backyard filled with different kinds of vegetables – self planted – and also flowers. Green beans, lettuce, appeared before his eyes, even the main dish didn't miss from greeny. Fish soup with loads of turnips, carrots, onions, seleries, and other ingredients that the boy was convinced, it wouldn't be far from another vegetables listed in children's book of spell._

 _His mother was highly tremendous scale of a woman. She was the president of women organization both in his neighborhood and in his school. And it was not a mere lowly organization as she even got an award from the mayor for her accomplishment in creating a healthy environment by encouraging people planting one tree in every house. How she could convince all of neighborhood to plant trees, Yoosung knew it perfectly. Lecturing from dawn till dusk was what she was good at. Of course, they were not just words that could go in one ear and out the other, they were full of meaningful words. Yoosung was sure, had she not become a teacher, she would have been a motivator who always aired Monday night in TV. And Yoosung was not excluded from the list of people needed to be lectured at. Apparently, being both the youngest and the only son the family got, Yoosung was the target of everyone's lectures in his house, even his older sister always had a way to make him do things for her. So much for a privilege being the youngest, being spoiled and all, he had none whatsoever._

" _Son.." his mother called him, making the young boy turned his gaze from his plate into his left, toward his mother, "I heard from your teacher that you need to find a place to volunteer in society? Have you found out where you'll volunteer?"_

" _Hmm," he mumbled, "Nope, haven't," turned his gaze into his plate once again_

" _Is that so?" his mother exclaimed, "Well, if that's the case, you should go to Rika tomorrow. She was volunteering at nursing home this lately," his mother grinned at him_

 _The spoon that was originally safe at his grip fell into his plate, filling the silent dining room with a clink from the silverware. He was utterly shocked at the suggestion. No, more into the name his mother mentioned before, "Eeeeh, why?" young Yoosung shrieked_

" _What do you mean why?" his mother asked, grinning from ear to ear, "You still had no place to volunteer – which you should have, considering all of your friends have already begun volunteering – while you sit idly here," she put a spoon of fish soup into her mouth, "You met Rika last night right? And you said you like her," mother said_

 _His heart sank. "Eeeeeeeh I.. I never said I liked her!" Yoosung stammered_

" _You never said it, but you couldn't keep your eyes off her," his mother retorted, happily teasing her youngest son, winking her right eye every now and then, whilst the young boy's attempt to hide his true colors failed_

" _I.. I didn't,"_

 _He could feel his ears hotter by the seconds passed. Staring into his barely touched meal, his heart was pounding so fast until he was sure he would have broken the electrocardiograph those doctors owned if they measure his heart beat at that very moment. He knew it so well. It was no use to say otherwise to his mother as she basically knew everything._

 _But still, his inner conscious told him not to fess up. He would literally get thrown down by his own mother who would likely tell him it was unnatural for a sibling to like each other. Of course his mother would think it was only some sort of common admiration for now, but deep down, he knew it was not a mere platonic love. There was a certain desire to make Rika his wife some years in the future. He fell for her right at the moment their eyes meet the other night. It was a zing._

" _So, you wanted to go to Rika right?" mother asked again, more like commanding, really_

" _Well, yes, if I have to,"_

 _Yoosung pretended to be cool about it. But inside, he couldn't wait till tomorrow comes and finally meet Rika again.._

 _~Tomorrow morning~_

 _The car stopped at the entrance of the nursing home. It was fairly a large building when Yoosung peeked through the window of the sedan car his family owned. His mother drove him there before she joined her organization. Like he uttered in his mind over and over again, his mother was not a mere member, she was the president._

 _A girl with long blond hair emerged through the the double door not long after they arrived. She was smiling at the moment their eyes met. He felt his body paralyzed. Like being stabbed by an invisible blade that shot through her gleaming eyes._ __ _Indeed, Rika was truly the most beautiful girl that Yoosung had ever seen, from the moment he could remember until that precise moment, or perhaps until the final breath left his body._

" _Good morning, Rika,"_

 _Yoosung's mother got off from the car and waved to Rika who walked closer by the minutes. She wore a pair of brown T-shirt and a short with the same color, showing her long skinny milky white pair of legs. Her long blond hair was tied in a perfect high ponytail, with the same brown color at the ribbon. Yoosung's heart was pounding again at a highly fast pace. The nape of her neck was now visible, arousing a slight fetish inside his young blood. He couldn't look her in the eye, he looked down instead. Somehow, the soil was a lot friendlier for his unstoppable pounding in his left chest._

" _Ah, good morning Aunt Kim," Rika said in her sweetest smile_

 _She reached them and gave the most fabulous smile to Yoosung and his mother. Yoosung stood behind his mother. He didn't say a word. He was too shy in front of the girl he liked._

" _Son, what are you doing there? Come, greet your cousin," mother said, grabbing his upper arm so that he could move forward. Yoosung shook his head, and keep his foothold behind his mother. He feared he would literally die due to liquefaction if he stood too close to the sun like her._

" _Wah~ we met again Yoosung. You look so handsome today~" Rika said, smiling_

 _Yoosung blushed. His legs felt like turning into a jelly hearing Rika's compliment._

" _Okay then, I'll leave him in your care, Rika," his mother said, holding Yoosung in the shoulder, "I have to go somewhere else. I'll pick him up this evening. Is that okay?" mother asked_

" _Of course, Aunt Kim. Leave him to me," Rika said, making an 'OK' sign with her right hand_

" _Okay, bye son.." his mother briefly hugged him before going into the car._

 _She waved at Rika and Yoosung before she turned on the engine. Yoosung saw his mother gone and startled when he heard his name called by Rika, inviting giggling from the owner of long blond hair because he twitched out of startle._

" _Why are you startled Yoosung? Am I so scary to you?" Rika asked, she remained giggling_

" _No, I'm just dozing off for a while there," Yoosung said, finally able to find his voice_

 _She chuckled, "Ok then, let's get inside. Everyone has been waiting for you," Rika said, leading him to the building_

 _A scent of light cinnamon struck his nose as she was holding him by the arm through the entrance. He let her do what she pleased to his body. Whether bringing him inside the building, nor dragging him somewhere more private, he wouldn't care anymore. She was a goddess sent from the heaven. Her existence was too powerful for a human being like him._

" _Waiting? Who is waiting?" Yoosung asked when they got in_

" _Everyone! Grandpas and grandmas here.. I kind of tell them that my cute cousin would come today, so they got excited!" Rika said_

 _Yoosung blushed again as Rika mentioned that he was cute._

" _Come, meet everyone.." Rika said_

 _She opened the double door and found some elderly in a large living room. It was a nice living room with a chimney, large towering windows at both sides, the green plants at the corner of the room, and a few couches where the elderly gathered around. Yoosung felt his heart ache seeing those grandmas and grandpas. Where are their families? Why would they be in here? It was the first time he saw people weaker than him._

 _Suddenly, a grandma came toward Rika in her wheelchair._

" _Aigoo, you looked so pretty as ever, Rika dear," grandma said, lifted her hand to caress Rika's cheek_

" _Ah, grandma looked so beautiful too. I'm not as beautiful as you, grandma," Rika said smiling_

" _No~ you flatter me, haha," grandma said, her cheeks were getting redder at Rika's flattering before later on taking a glance on Yoosung, "And who this young boy might be?" grandma asked_

" _This is Yoosung, my cousin. He's handsome, isn't he?" Rika replied, pulling the young boy closer to her, smiling. The boy could only nod, both by the compliment and also the closeness which he had a hard time dealing with._

" _Yes, yes indeed. He looks a lot like you, except his hair is dark brown, not blonde like you," grandma said_

" _Ah, yes.. I dye my hair grandma. He was still in middle school, he shouldn't dye his hair," Rika said, stroking the young boy's hair now_

 _Beyond Rika's gentle stroke on his hair, the sentence grandma said before struck Yoosung. Did he really look like Rika? Should he dye his hair when he graduated from high school then?_

" _Hello grandma, I'm Yoosung. It's nice to meet you," Yoosung said, holding out his hand_

" _Yes, yes.. I'm happy too to see young people in here. It must be so nice to be young," grandma said, taking Yoosung's hand while patting on his shoulder, "You have to cherished your days while you can, dear.."_

" _Ah~ yes grandma, we will," Rika said, smile never faded from her face, "Ah grandma, let's go to the yard now, shall we?"_

" _Yes, yes.."_

 _Yoosung followed Rika and grandma from behind. He surely cherished every minute he spent with his goddess, Rika. He loved seeing her smile. That smile.. He wanted to cherish it as his treasure for a long time ahead. Perhaps, a single picture together would suffice. Rika would be so beautiful at the picture.. He was sure of it._

" _Noona,"_

 _Yoosung called Rika when they arrived at the yard. It was so fresh to be outside. With the trees at the surroundings and a small pond not far from them, it was indeed a good place to get a fresh air._

" _Yes?" Rika answered, turning her head backward_

" _How about we take a picture together, three of us?" Yoosung asked_

" _Ah yes," Rika answered, before turning her head upfront once again, "Grandma, do you mind to take a picture with us?"_

" _No, of course I don't mind. I would love to, dear," Grandma said_

" _Okay, I brought a camera.." he said, taking out his digital camera from his bag, "Hmm, is there someone we could ask for help to take a picture?" Yoosung asked_

" _Ah, I know," Rika said_

 _Rika went to the nurse nearby. She asked the nurse to take their picture, and the nurse gladly helped her._

" _Okay then, One.. Two.. Three.."_

 _Clicked. They got their picture taken. Yoosung made sure, that picture would always stay with him, no matter what._

 _Rika uttered her gratitude to the nurse and returned to Yoosung and grandma. Three of them chatted around until grandma was asked to go inside for her regular checkups. It was only Yoosung and Rika in the yard that afternoon. They sat together at the bench in front of the pond._

" _Noona," Yoosung asked_

" _Hmm~" she answered, still gazing at the branches of trees that were swayed by the wind_

" _Can I ask something?" Yoosung asked, staring deeply into Rika's green dreamy eyes_

" _Of course, you could ask whatever you want," Rika said, looking right at him now, still smiling_

 _At that time, his head was full of questions waiting to be answered. But among those questions – one of them was the question about her ideal type of future husband she would likely marry someday – he was more curious about her tendency to do good for many people around her. Once she helped around at the veterinary hospital, and another time, she was seen helping around at the orphanages. Was there any special reason, perhaps?_

" _You seemed to like volunteering," he began speaking, "What do you get for helping elderly?" Yoosung asked curiously_

" _Hmm~"_

 _Her brows furrowed. She thought for a while before she told him the answer._

" _The reason why people want to gain things is to earn happiness. It is so difficult for people on the fringe of society to hope for happiness, but everyone got happy ever since I came here. There are things that are much more important than money, fame, or power. Being a person who gives happiness to others is more important than those. By helping those in need, I felt like a powerful magician who has the power to give happines," Rika said, smiling whilst looking at the blue sky above with the sun shone brightly, "Yoosung.." she called for him_

" _Yes?" he answered naturally_

" _Do you want to be a magician?" Rika asked, still looking at the blue sky_

 _Yoosung followed her gaze toward the sky and nodded._

" _Good. Let's be magician, both of us," Rika said, smiling_

" _Yes, noona," Yoosung said_

 _She was so beautiful. That smile, he could never forget it.. Never.._

 _Rika.._

…

"Ehem.. Mr. Kim~"

 _There was a voice.._

"Mr. Kim~" came another sound

 _A woman.._

 _Who was it?_

 _Could it be, Rika?_

"Rika.." Yoosung muttered

Yoosung slowly opened his eyes. To his surprise, he was at the classroom. All of his classmates were laughing so hard to find Yoosung fell asleep in class. Yoosung was so embarrassed that someone woke him up and pulled him out of his dream. Ah, the dream.. He was dreaming of being with Rika.. It was such a nice dream..

"Ehem, Mr. Kim," the woman said in front of him

"Ah.. ah.. yes.. I'm sorry I fell asleep.." he straighten up his back, "I didn't know how I slept though…" Yoosung said embarrassed

"Do you still sleepy? Or do you wish to get a lesson now?" the woman asked sternly

"Yes, I would be really glad if I get a lesson now, Professor.." Yoosung answered

"Good, now, please pay attention, okay?" the woman said

"Okay,"

The woman walked to the front of the class. Yoosung didn't really take a good look on that woman's face as he just woke up and his vision still blurred. Or maybe his eyes became bad out of sitting in front of his PC all the time..

But he knew one thing, she was so beautiful with her long brown hair. It reminded him about Rika..

"Okay everyone. Now that every one of you is present in this class," the woman glanced her eyes to Yoosung's direction, pressing the 'present' word so obviously, followed by giggling from all students while Yoosung covering his face out of embarrassment.

"Pay attention to this lesson. You will have a quiz afterwards,"

Everyone echoed the yes word together. But Yoosung was taken aback. He never expected that he would have a quiz that day. Could it be karma because he fell asleep?

"What? Why?" Yoosung yelled

"Why? The professor told me that he already told the class there would be a quiz today," the woman said non chalantly

All students nodded together. Yoosung didn't believe it. How could he never hear of it?

Everyone giggled again at the shock that was clearly shown from Yoosung's face.

"Okay okay. Now, Mr. Kim, you should pay more attention to this lecture if you want to get an A in your quiz. Do you understand?"

"Okay," Yoosung said weakly

The woman started her lecture. Clearly, it was the first time he saw her, but somehow, her voice sounded familiar. Yoosung turned into one of his friend.

"Hey, who is that woman? New professor?" Yoosung asked sotto voce when he finally got himself together.

"No, she was just a substitute. Professor Cho couldn't attend today,"

Yoosung mouthed a big O to his friend. Then he returned to the reality that there would be a quiz after the lesson. He wanted to cry at that time. He succumbed to his desk. He thought he would never be able to get a C even though he paid attention on the lecture. So, instead of learning the lesson, he opened up RFA app to whine about the quiz.

Yoosung entered the chatroom

Yoosung : Arrrggh!

Yoosung : What do I do?

Yoosung : WHAT DO I DO?

Yoosung : Why is this happening to me?!

Yoosung : Why?! WHY?!

707 : lololol What's going on?

707 : Did LOLOL's server explode or something? XD

Yoosung : OMG!

Yoosung sent shock emoji

Yoosung : Don't even say that!

Yoosung : I'm troubled enough already..

707 : So, what's going on? Lolololol

Yoosung : T_T … In one hour …

707 : Server maintenance?

Yoosung : NO!

707 : And server explodes.. lolololol

Yoosung : T_T

Yoosung : Don't do that to me..

Yoosung input crying emoji

Yoosung : That's not it…

707 : lololol

Yoosung : I'm gonna have a QUIZ.

Yoosung : Apparently, the professor told us before.. How come I didn't know about this?

Yoosung : I'm so shocked right now,, that I can't even study..

Yoosung sent crying emoji

707 : lolol

707 : Dude, I thought smth serious was happening lolol

707 : Just write whatever

707 : I thought.. quizzes are super easy?

Yoosung : …

Yoosung : … Write whatever?

707 : When you see the question, you get the answer immediately. Just write that and leave…

Yoosung : You get what when you see the question…?

707 :

707 : THE ANSWER!

707 : Just use your brain and write the answer. And the prof will go like…

707 : YOU ARE CORRECT.

707 : Major increase in likeability.

Yoosung : Yeah, of course the professor will tell you that.

Yoosung : I was forgetting that you're a genius.

Yoosung sent depressed emoji

Yoosung : Btw, our prof doesn't come today. We are taught by a substitute. She's cute though.

707 : Wow… Gimme a photo!

Yoosung : No way~ You didn't give me Eun Ha's photo either… I won't give you hers! :P

707 : Gahh, don't tempt me kiddo…

707 : But, if you are taught by a cute substitute, don't you suppose to pay attention to her now?

Yoosung : T_T

Yoosung : The idea of quiz shocked me already… I don't think I can learn anything… T_T

707 : T_T Gahh… So sad becoming you… T_T

707 : Anyway… Sorry, gotta go…

Yoosung : So soon? Why? Is it Unknown? The hacker? Have you got any news?

707 : That's…

Yoosung : Hurry up…

707 : That's…

707 : S

707 : E

707 : C

707 : R

707 : E

707 : T

707 :

707 : Toodles…

707 has left the chatroom

Yoosung let out a long sigh. He entered the chat room seeking a place to console his already troubled mind – chatting with Eun Ha for example – yet all he got was not making things better. The only one who was online was the young red haired hacker, the one whose hobby was teasing Yoosung every time they appeared together in the chat room. Like the thing he did to Yoosung a couple days ago, when he suddenly diagnosed Yoosung with POADCS (Pass Out After Drinking Caffeine Syndrome) – a rare disease which was said to be deadly for cows based on a screenshot from Wikipedia Seven shared in the chat room (the cows stated to pass away in 3 seconds after eating too many coffee beans). And the symptom for human was fainting and never woken up any longer, like sleeping beauty.

Drinking chocolate milk was recommended by Seven for his 'rare disease' to increase the blood pressure if he wanted to wake up faster. That time, the yellow haired boy was ought to know it was a prank already – How could chocolate milk diminish such a rare disease, huh? – but he kept on having faith in Seven. He bought boxes of chocolate milk carton and drank them all, until he was sick of it. He believed in whatever Seven saying. Seven was – after all – able to guess the time Yoosung's fever went down. _"He said my fever would go down within a week! And it's really gone in 5 days!"_ Yoosung typed hysterically.

It was not until Jaehee told him it was a common knowledge that fever would eventually go down within a week, Yoosung still had 100% faith in Seven's knowledge. Not to mention, the screenshot Seven shared before turned out to be a false article created by the hacker himself, as it was written at the bottom of the article which said, _"Another cow who was in love with that deceased cow also gone. How? We'll never know. That is still a mystery. I am just writing random BS to mock Yoosung. Thanks to cows and my imagination,"_ Yoosung felt like hiding at the pit of embarrassment after fully reading it.How naïve could he be until he got eaten by a prank Seven made for him. Perhaps he was too flustered by the fact he would be dead in a matter of hours. Yes, perhaps it was that. He was not that dumb, was he?

The substitute teacher was still explaining about what seemed to be asked in the upcoming quiz. But his mind couldn't really get into the class at all. He kept on racking his brain, pondering who the woman standing in front of the class might be. Cause her voice was somehow familiar in his brain.


	6. Chapter 6

13.30 - The Classroom

"Okay, time's up. Finished or unfinished, please collect it now. Pass down your answer sheet to your friends in front of you. Thank you," the assistant lecturer instructed

Yoosung surrendered. He did what he could. He never wanted to know what score he got. Probably an F. But he didn't care. He didn't care at all. He threw his head onto the desk and both of his arms hanging lose at side.

" _GPA… Whatever… I don't know… I hate you… professor… See you again next year…"_ Yoosung thought hopelessly

He hated Professor. He hated this subject. He hated his life.

He used to be so diligent back then. All's A on his report card. He studied so hard to get a scholarship in Yonsei. But he loosened up when he already in. One major reason was because he lost Rika, his role model. He got addicted in gaming and forgot what he promised to Rika back then. He hated his life.

"Well, you may leave the classroom. I will inform your score in another session. Thank you very much. Good day every one,"

Every student got out of the classroom. Yoosung started to pack his bag too and walk through the exit door unsteadily. He didn't even bother to look at the person in front of the classroom who saw him walked through the door.

He walked as far as his legs took, till he reached his favorite bench in the park. He didn't feel so good about today. He hadn't chat Eun Ha for a while though. The last chat they made was in the morning when he showed up his messy omelet rice. He was happy that Eun Ha praised his cooking. It made him want to cook for her too. But he couldn't, as he didn't know where she lived and he couldn't just invite a girl into his apartment… Right? Or he could just ask her out. Yes, why didn't he think about that? He could just call her and ask her out. It could be a date! Or something.. Jaehee met her already, why couldn't he?

Excited by the thought, he pressed Eun Ha's number that Seven gave him. It was not the first call he made with her actually. He already called her yesterday, just to make sure Eun Ha remembered which one he was from all members. And he felt down when she said she didn't remember him. Even when he told her he was the blond boy wearing hair clips that form an 'X' shape, she still forget about him. He didn't deny he felt a bit disappointed at Eun Ha for that, but he accepted it. He wasn't likely a type to be significant to others like Jumin, Seven, moreover Zen. He was only a sophomore college boy who was lacking in everything he did and gaming all the time.

But Yoosung was completely in shock when he heard laughter in the other side. Apparently Eun Ha was just teasing Yoosung for pretending not to remember anything about him while she did. She even remembered the blue hoodie and 'BORN THE LOLLOL' green pin he wore in the picture he sent when she joined the chat room for the first time. Eun Ha was really something. It was like having 2 Sevens in RFA.

"Hello,"

The repeated tapping from his right fingers into his right knee stopped immediately at the sound in his left ear. Ecstatic by her voice, he straightened up his back and grinned from ear to ear.

"Ah, Eun Ha? I'm Yoosung! What are you doing right now?" Yoosung asked spiritfully

"Hmm, nothing. Why?" Eun Ha asked

"Great! Can we meet? I feel so suffocated right now…"

"Oh no, what happened?" Eun Ha asked

"Well, I guess you didn't see the chat then," he leaned his back to the bench, "Hmm, I got a quiz at class today.." he let out a long sigh.

"Is that so?" she asked, "So, what happened with the quiz?"

"What should I do.. I would surely fail my quiz… I'm such an idiot…" Yoosung pouted

"Hey, don't call yourself an idiot. You just need to study a bit more. I know you're smart,"

He laughed, "Thank you anyway. Well, Eun Ha.."

"Hmm?" Eun Ha asked

Yoosung's heart was pounding so fast. It was the first time he ever asked a girl for a date.

"Would you like to go out with me today? The weather was so nice. You shouldn't stay in Rika's place for a long time. You should get out and get a fresh air sometimes," Yoosung said

"Hmm, but I'm already outside now," Eun Ha replied

His heart sank.

"What? Didn't you say you have nothing to do right now? How could you be outside if you didn't have anything to do?" Yoosung asked, curiously

"Well, I did something today, but I've finished it," Eun Ha said

"Ah, is that so?"

"Yes," Eun Ha replied

"So, can we meet now?" Yoosung asked again

"Yes, we can." She answered immediately

"Really? Then, I'll come to you right away. Tell me where you are now," Yoosung said, excited

"Hmm~ Turn around," Eun Ha giggled

"What?"

"Turn around, Yoosung," Eun Ha, giggled even louder

"What do y.."

He didn't finish his sentence. He saw a girl behind him, probably 5 meters, grinning and waving at him with her phone still on her ear.

"Come here," both Eun Ha and the girl replied in the same intonation

"Wha…"

Yoosung didn't move from his spot. So Eun Ha was the one walking toward him. She disconnected the phone call when she reached Yoosung.

"Hi!" Eun Ha said, half jumped in front of Yoosung

Yoosung couldn't believe his eyes. Her voice was Eun Ha's, but her clothes was the same like the assistant lecturer wore in the class earlier. Wait.. Wasn't the woman in front of him the substitute teacher? That assistant lecturer?

" _That assistant lecturer was Eun Ha?!"_ Yoosung thought hysterically

Seven was not lying. Eun Ha was indeed so beautiful with her long brown hair and fair skin. She was a shorter than him, that's a plus. But she didn't look older than him. That confused him. And she was a tad different from the woman in his class before. The woman in his class and the girl in front of him gave a different aura even though they shared the same face. Could she have a double personality?

He couldn't close his eyes. He lost his words too.

"Hey, hello, have you come back to the earth Shooting Star?" Eun Ha asked, waving her hand in front of Yoosung's eyes

"Ho.. how…?" Yoosung stuttered

"Well, I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you right away in the classroom, could I? I have to be professional though," Eun Ha apologized

"You.. look different," Yoosung said, couldn't hold himself

"Hmm, what do you mean?" Eun Ha asked, tilting her head

"You looked older before, but you look younger now.. How?" Yoosung muttered, dumbfounded

Eun Ha laughed so hard. Grabbing her belly while slightly slouching, she laughed for the entire minute. Yoosung stood still and stared at the girl in front of him. That was no coincidence then when he felt some sort of familiar feeling at the class, she was indeed the newest member of RFA that he called yesterday.

"Sorry, sorry,, haa~" Eun Ha panting, "I got that a lot you know. You are not the first to say that to me. Hmmm, all I could say is.. maybe I have an ability to change my face according to what mask I wish to put on,"

Yoosung got confused even more. _"What mask was she talking about?"_ he thought

"What mask?"

"Well, it's just.. I need a few different attitudes when socializing with different types of people. I need to be a stern yet kind person in front of class. Being childish is not an attitude fit for a teacher, right?" Eun Ha explained, "So, me in front of class is just a mask I wear, me in front of you is the real me!"

Yoosung stared into her eyes. Her amber eyes looked so beautiful before his eyes. Motherly look. Like a gaze young mothers would give for their new born children. Caring at the utmost sincerity. Yet very different gaze came from the woman he saw at the class room before, stern and a bit stiff, like a real dominance. That was only if dominance was the right word to describe her demeanor. Anyway, he was glad it was not the real her.

"You _definitely_ give a different aura from back then," Yoosung agreed

"Yep. That's my ability," Eun Ha nodded

"But.. all I said in the chatroom.." Yoosung said

"Ah, those chats with Seven? Hmm, I read it too. So~ I'm cute?" Eun Ha giggled

"He.. heeyy.. Don't tease mee…" Yoosung pouted

He was so ashamed. Had he known that the woman in his class were Eun Ha, he wouldn't have typed those things to Seven.

She laughed hysterically, "Sorry, but you are indeed so cute in person, Yoosung,"

"Aaaah~ You teased me again," Yoosung said, covering his face so that she wouldn't notice how crab-like face he got there

"Sorry, hehe," Eun Ha said, "Ah, why don't we go to Pizza Hut? I'm so hungry. I bet you haven't eaten too right?"

"Yeah," Yoosung pouted, curling his lower lip

"Hey~ lose your frown," she said, patting his shoulder while giggling, "I'm sorry, I would never tease you again. I promise," Eun Ha said, crossed her fingers

"Okay,"

"Well, let's go. I'll treat you this time," Eun Ha said, pulling Yoosung by his hand

They went out from the university in no time and took the very first bus. Other seats were fully taken, so they chose to sit at the front row, by the window. Yoosung trailed behind her. She opened the window in her right side, inviting a soft zephyr into their face and swayed her long brown hair. Every strand of her hair gently touched his cheek, arousing the scent of cinnamon to his nose.

" _Cinnamon?"_ he recoiled in silence. A familiar feeling struck Yoosung. He remembered that kind of smell. No, more like, he longed for the smell. His memory went back again to the church he visited once 8 years ago, the one place in his hometown he held very dearly with his lovely cousin, Rika. Yes, it was true. It was similar with Rika's scent.

Yoosung stared straight into the girls' eyes beside him. Idly she sat beside him, setting her gaze into the passing buildings outside the window. Oddly, Yoosung saw the same gaze Rika used to make in Eun Ha's eyes, back when she was still breathing of course. Such the same beautiful and dreamy pair of eyes, though they were not green, but amber. Similar with Seven's if he could add.

The bus strolled for another half hour before they arrived at the destination. Traffic wasn't a problem for them, as it passed the lunch break already. Almost every worker went back to their offices. Drowning themselves again with the pile of stuff they needed to finish before deadline choked them to death. And among those workers, perhaps Jaehee was the same. Although likely she would have no time to spare even for a lunch break. Living a worker life didn't sound too thrilled in Yoosung's state of mind. He couldn't spend his entire life working in cubicle under one roof, one firm, nor office. Well, even when he stated he didn't want that kind of life, he didn't really know what suited him more. He was still sophomore now. There were still more times for him to leisurely enjoy his life with gaming.

"Well, what do you want to have Yoosung? My favorite is Deluxe Cheese, but if you want to have another, you can order that too," Eun Ha said, reading the menu while setting her hair in her right ear, showing her sweet little gold earing

They sat face to face inside Pizza Hut now. The waitress waited patiently beside them with a pen ready to write the order in the small notes. Yoosung abruptly set his eyes to the menu. He was too fond of the beauty in front of him hence forgotten to choose his own pizza. His eyes were frantically searching for anything nice within the menu. He didn't want to stay too long considering which to buy as all of them were the same. He preffered setting his eyes fixed into the girl in front of him after all.

"Hmm~ I'll have medium cheeseburger pizza then," Yoosung replied

"Okay, one small Deluxe Cheese and medium Cheeseburger Pizza. What do you want for a drink?" the waitress asked

"Ph. D Pepper for me, you?" Eun Ha asked

"Same please,"

"Okay, right away," the waitress went to tell their orders.

Clock had been ticking for a while, but no words came out from both of them. As if they played a game of who kept silence the longest, won the battle. But surely, Eun Ha lost the battle.

"Hmm.. Are you okay?" Eun Ha asked

"What? Hmm.. Yeah, why?"

"You didn't say anything to me for a while there," Eun Ha muttered, "Are you still mad at me?"

"No, noo.. God, no.. I'm not mad at you. But, I got so embarrassed that I showed you my incompetence back then, at class," Yoosung stared down

"Hey, don't say that. I'm sure you'll get better in no time," Eun Ha said

"Really? Do you think so?"

"Yeah, of course. I know you will," Eun Ha convinced him, "You just need to pay more attention in class, and find your passion in it. Try to remember why you want to be in your major back then. There are countless students who strive hard for stepping their foot on Yonsei's ground. But not everyone can get a scholarship in Yonsei like you. The fact that you can beat all those students proves that you have something that they don't. You need to trust yourself more, Yoosung,"

Found his passion? What was his passion? For all that he could remember, Yoosung's only passion was for Rika's happiness. But now that his only passion was disappeared, he lost on track what he should do. He lost everything..

But still, Yoosung felt a little relieved by Eun Ha's sweet words. Watching someone care enough for his future soothed him a wee bit.

"Humm~ Thank you,"

"You're welcome," Eun Ha, giggled, "Hmm Yoosung,"

"Yes?"

"Will you promise not to get angry at me?" Eun Ha asked at sudden

Yoosung frowned, "Yes, alright. What is it?"

" _Could it be the quiz sheet? No, no way it was that. She hadn't got any spare time to check yet,"_

To Yoosung's surprise, she took out her phone and showed him his picture while he was asleep in the classroom. The idea of her showing it to every member in chat room began to worry him. For he would once again be bullied by other members for his slackness.

"Hey.. heeeeyyy…" he tried to snatch her phone, but her hand was quicker to secure it, "How could you take it without my permission?" Yoosung sulked

"Well, I couldn't ask it because you were sleeping kiddo.. But, you're cute! I'll treasure it forever. May I?" Eun Ha pleaded

"When did you take it?" Yoosung asked, tried so hard to keep his voice calm

"Before I woke you up of course," she giggled

"Eun Ha, don't post it to everyone, Ok?" Yoosung pleaded

"No, of course no, I will keep it for myself," Eun Ha convinced him

He wanted to protest more, but he decided to believe her eventually. It was hard to say no to her beautiful smiles.

"Okay~" he said, embarassed

"Thank you!" Eun Ha shrieked

A few minutes later, Yoosung's face went brighter as his favorite pizza came. He dug into his pizza when a thought suddenly flashed into his mind.

"Hey Eun Ha, can we take a picture together? I want to send it to group chat," Yoosung asked smiling brightly

"Yeah, why not,"

Yoosung took his phone and moved to sit side by side with Eun Ha. He put a slice of pizza in his mouth while Eun Ha made a V sign. V… Hmm… The name of V triggered Yoosung. _He hated V._

Clicked. The picture turned out fine. Eun Ha was beautiful, just like Rika. Yoosung sent the picture to the group chat, only to find Zen was online as well.

Yoosung has entered the chatroom

Yoosung sent a picture

Yoosung : I'm with Eun Ha now… :P

ZEN : Hey, how come both of you together?!

Yoosung : Well… turned out the professor had her replace him, so…

ZEN : The replacement?

ZEN : So you mean… Eun Ha taught your class today?

Yoosung : Yes ^^

ZEN : Waaah, how lucky you are to be taught by a beautiful teacher ^^

ZEN : I would go to school if the teachers were like you…

ZEN : But all teachers in my school were strange. Every time I looked at them in the eye, they look away and blushed… I didn't know why back then. But I figured it out now…

ZEN : I'm just too handsome!

ZEN : God, this face…

ZEN : It was just so IMPOSSIBLE!

ZEN : I think God makes mistake when creating me…

Yoosung : Yeah… yeah…

Yoosung : You can stop now… You're kinda douchey when you brag yourself like that…

ZEN : Well, what can I do, I'm so handsome since I was born. Lol

ZEN : Btw, what was Eun Ha doing? Why didn't she log in too?

Yoosung : Dunno, she was staring at me right now, maybe… she likes me? =3

ZEN : NOOOOOO… I'm not gonna let that young man! How could you get a girl while I'm still single?!

Yoosung : Maybe… I'm her type? =3

ZEN : God…

Zen inserted depressed emoji

"Eun Ha, Zen asked why you don't log in to chat. And I answered that you were staring at me, hehe" Yoosung grinned

"Hahaha so cute," Eun Ha said, "Should I join in chat room then?"

"Yes! I want to know how he reacted too,"

" _No, don't talk to him.."_

"Okay! I kinda miss him too actually," Eun Ha said

" _You shouldn't miss him.. Please, don't…"_

Eun Ha has entered the chatroom

Eun Ha : Hello ^^

ZEN : Gaaahhh, how could you date him already? I'm hurt T_T

Eun Ha : What can I do? I feel bad about him when we were in a class. Do you want to eat with me too? Lol

ZEN : Yeah! I want to go to a date too! But…

Zen inserted crying emoji

Eun Ha : Why?

ZEN : I can't…

ZEN : I can't go to date… I'm so busy these days… T_T

Eun Ha : Ah, is that so? T_T

Yoosung : Yeah? She could date with me though XD

ZEN : GET LOST!

Zen inserted angry emoji

Eun Ha : Lololol calm down Zen.

Eun Ha : What are you doing right now?

ZEN : I'm taking a break now. We're practicing our choreography.

Eun Ha : Ooh, I wish I could go there to cheer you up… ^^

ZEN : REALLY?

ZEN : Do you really want to come?

Eun Ha : Well, I wish I could, but I'm afraid we will bother you.

ZEN : No no no no… You are not bothering me at all! Please, do come and see me. There are a lot of fans here too you know, so, I don't think it would be a problem if you come here too.

Eun Ha : Really?

ZEN : Yeah! Come here! I'll text you the address.

ZEN : Btw, where is that kid? Is he falling asleep again like in the classroom? Lololol

Yoosung : No

Yoosung : Eating pizza.

ZEN : God, don't give me a heartless words like that.

Yoosung : Ya

ZEN : Are you jealous? Lololol

Yoosung : Ya

ZEN : God, I'm not gonna steal her or anything lolol

Eun Ha : ^^;;;;;

ZEN : Anyway, I'll meet you soon though. See you soon, Eun Ha, kiddo ^^

ZEN has left chatroom

Eun Ha has left chatroom

Yoosung has left chatroom

"Well, better get hurry then?" Eun Ha said

"But I'm not finished yet," Yoosung pouted

Yoosung stuffed a big sized pizza to his mouth and ate in silence. He saw Eun Ha's light smirk every now and then. _"Great, now she sees me as a little kid. Unlike that perfect body whatsoever Zen has,"_ Yoosung thought furiously.

"Okaay~ I'll wait you, my cute puppy," Eun Ha said, poking Yoosung's nose, "Ha~ Finally I get to meet Zen," she grinned

Yoosung didn't say a word. It was not like him at all to be silent like this. But he couldn't deny that he felt a bit sad seeing Eun Ha excited in meeting Zen.

Sad? Was that the best word of it?

He felt… itchy for some reason.

Albeit Yoosung kept eating his pizza. He deliberately took more time than usual for finishing one slice of pizza. He just couldn't stand the idea of Eun Ha's excitement of meeting Zen. Why though? He didn't even understand the reason. He just.. sort of.. despise it. It was the same feeling he got when Rika introduced V for the first time in that evening 7 years ago. Rika was grinning so widely just like Eun Ha now. And the excitement aura that spread around her body.. It was just like a reenactment from his deepest memory he had about Rika.

How could they be perfecty similar with each other? Had her hair not dark brown like that, he would have seen her as Rika. But Yoosung knew, they were not the same person.. Or.. were they?

…

30 minutes later, Eun Ha and Yoosung went to the address Zen gave earlier. It was quite a large theater company. With a lot of posters of the later and the upcoming production hanging on both side of the hall, Eun Ha was trying so hard not to run around and take pictures of herself in that beautiful hall. Maintaining her normal behavior in front of Yoosung was a must. And being a freaking fangirl material probably wasn't a nice image she wanted to plant on the younger boy's mind beside her.

Eun Ha recognized some of the people on the posters – Kyuhyun was one of them. But one person literally pulled her to the gravity. She gasped and sauntered to one of the poster. A young man with a silver hair and red eyes stared back at Eun Ha. She felt her legs weaken by that piercing gaze till she had to lean on the pillar towering beside her. With the mask he wore and bore the letter Z scar on his chest, Zen surely knew how to melt the heart of all ladies.

She touched the poster, as if wondering whether she could be sucked into the story or not. Shame, she couldn't. Instead, she lingered in front of Zen's poster for quite some time. Yoosung followed her trails in the back. No words came out from his mouth.

"He's so beautiful, isn't he?" she asked, smiling widely. Eun Ha's eyes were glistening in joy from the view before her.

"Don't ask me. I'm a guy. It's gross!" Yoosung growled

Eun Ha laughed, "Gross huh? Maybe.. Maybe I ask the wrong person about it. I should have asked Jaehee instead. Since we're both girls and a fan of Zen, haha" Eun Ha said, grinning again

"Yeah, maybe," Yoosung sulked

"Awwwww, look at you, being so jealous at him already," she turned to face Yoosung, "You sure are a cute little brother of me," Eun Ha said, pinching Yoosung's cheek

"Aw aw, Eun Ha noona… It's so hurt….." Yoosung growled, rubbing his cheeks

"Ups, sorry. I couldn't help it, you're so adorable," Eun Ha grinned

"You're talking to me as if I'm not a guy. Don't tell me, you don't even see me as a person at all?" Yoosung scowled

Eun Ha widely smiled. She did imagine Yoosung as a cute Yorkshire terrier who liked to play around with human. He was cute from head to toe. The way he talked, the way he sulked, and the way he behaved, totally looked like a puppy. His blonde hair completed Eun Ha's imagination of similarities between Yoosung and Yorkshire terrier. He was so cute.

"No, of course you're a human," Eun Ha nodded, eyes convinced, pretended to be serious but grinning in a second after. She couldn't erase her imagination of Yorkshire terrier running around the yard, playing fetch with Eun Ha.

Yoosung seemed to have something more to say, but he was cut by a phone call. The girl didn't need to read the name displayed on her screen, as she set Zen's ringtone different from others, Cho Kyuhyun – Isn't She Lovely.

…

Eun Ha walked a few paces farther from Yoosung. But before she could pick her call, Yoosung saw a flash name of Zen in Eun Ha's screen. Zen.. with a shape of heart after his name..

" _No, it couldn't be.. It would probably be a mistake.. She wouldn't fall for him.. Not that fast.."_

Yoosung's itchy struck him harder in his heart. He wanted to crush her phone to the poster of Zen, smash the glass covering Zen's poster to the ground and take away Eun Ha, far away from that theater. She would probably be scared of him. But it didn't really matter, as long as he could be with her. He didn't care of Eun Ha's scared eyes toward him. Yoosung only wish Eun Ha's smile for him. Only for him, not for anyone else..

"Hello, Zen!" Eun Ha said, excited

No. He didn't have guts to do any of those. He couldn't turn her beautiful eyes into horror every time she saw him. And that smile.. If only he had a tool to grasp a smile, he would already make that smile become his treasure. A smile that only him could see, enjoy, and taste..

Strange indeed that he had that kind of feeling toward Eun Ha, a woman he just met that afternoon.

"Yes! We're here, at the theater! Where are you?"

There was a slight pause.

"Ah~ you're in rehearse room? Where is that?" Eun Ha asked, "Us?" she glanced toward Yoosung's direction, "We're still at the lobby. Actually, I stalled a few minutes, admiring your Zorro's poster," Eun Ha chuckled, "Yes, you are indeed so beautiful Zen,"

" _Stop your childish attitude!"_ Yoosung thought furiously

"Huum~ so we just need to go straight and turn left? Well, okay, I'll follow your instruction," Eun Ha said, smiling

She surely looked like a teenager who fall in love at the first time. She never stopped jittery around and a wide smile never faded from her face. Alas, Yoosung couldn't do anything.

"Okay, we'll go there straight away. Okay.. bye.."

She disconnected the phone call and grabbed Yoosung by the hand.

"Let's go! Zen's already waiting for us!" Eun Ha said

Yoosung was stunned by her sudden action. He should have been happier if it weren't because her excitement of meeting Zen. She must have thought that this action doesn't have any meaning, while Yoosung's heart beating insanely fast.

…

Eun Ha quicken her pace, dragging Yoosung along with her. A bit nervous she might say as she never had any courage to meet him again after that encounter 4 years ago and only watched Zen from her SNS timeline. Well, who would have thought someone like her could meet her bias. One in 7 billion chances perhaps. Such a big opportunity like that would never happen twice. She didn't know what good deed she did in the last life, but whatever that was, she felt a tremendous gratitude for her predecessor.

It didn't take a very long time for Yoosung and Eun Ha to reach the rehearsal room where Zen practiced at. A loud music and singing was heard from inside the room, and a couple fangirls sat silently while carrying banners for Zen. And the center of it was Zen, with his long silver hair dancing around the room with a couple actors and actresses, like a Silvan Elf among the mortal. He was still as handsome as the first time Eun Ha met him at the convenience store. That angelic face.. Mentioning whether he was a true descendant from God of Beauty might have explained his overall appearance. Like he said in the chat room, _"Even Zeus would kill for my face!"_ Eun Ha totally agreed on that sentence. Even though how 'douchey' – like Yoosung always mocked him – he might have sound, if he could present the fact that proved his declaration, it didn't matter at all.

Eun Ha released her hand from Yoosung's arm by the time they reached the room and kept her gaze toward Zen. Every move that Zen did made Eun Ha's heart fluttered so fast that she was a hundred percent sure she could hear her own heart beat. She wanted to clap so badly for his amazing dance skill, but she knew it would be rude to do so. So, she just waited around till Zen spot them first and approached them.

"Okay, take 10, everyone! We'll continue in 10. Good work," the man who seemed to be the choreographer stopped the rehearsal

A silent yelp was coming out from the girl's throat, and her eyes widened at the announcement. The dance practice was on a break. It only meant Zen would come and meet them soon. Eun Ha watched as Zen let out a long sigh and walked into the right side of the room to grab his bottle of mineral water. He stood sideways and gulped down half of bottle hastily at one drink, making a few streaks of mineral water escaped from his perfect sculpted arches of lips. His abs was sticking out through his drenched white T-shirt and more coming from the streaks above his masculine jawline. What a feast for Eun Ha's eyes, really. And that stance.. Oh my.. He looked a lot like filming an ad for energy drink or something. So wild yet gentle at the same time! That product would definitely be announced by the best selling beyond record if it became a real ad.

Eun Ha couldn't blink her eyes for one bit. She was too mesmerized by the marvelous beauty 3 meters apart from her. She couldn't see it but she felt her jaw hanging loose helplessly. She could only hope she didn't look too dumb in her bias' eyes.

Zen put down his bottle of mineral water and looked to the left. That time, his gaze locked with Eun Ha's eyes – probably surprised by their appearance at the door looked from the widened eyes he created – making her body suddenly stopped functioning, like being plugged on by the megavolt electricity ever existed. She sensed Yoosung waved casually at Zen and the silver haired guy dashed off to the door to meet them.

"Hey, why didn't you tell me when you've reached this room?" Zen asked when he reached the door, his sweat dripping from his forehead

Truly, she wanted to wipe his sweat but she hold her stance, as a lot of girls with banners stared at their direction with their killer gaze in each and every one of them. She didn't want to make a fuss.

"Sorry, I don't want to interrupt your practice," Eun Ha honestly answered, giving him the best smile she could give

"Whooah," Zen gasped, "Seven was not joking! You are so cute in person Eun Ha!" Zen said, winking one of his eyes

Her heart skipped a beat. She felt dizzy at the sudden compliment coming from the most perfect guy in the world, her bias. Was she dreaming? Well, even if she was, she never wanted to come to life, she preferred living in a dream world forever.

"Thank you," Eun Ha said, blushing, "You too,"

"Hey, do I not even exist?" Yoosung asked

Yoosung's sudden grumbling at her right startled her. He looked pretty annoyed as his lower lips curling for the second time. Eun Ha scratch a little note in her mind, lip curling might be one of Yoosung's habits when he sulked. _"So cute,"_ she thought, smirking

Zen giggled, "Sorry Yoosung. But I'm just so excited meeting our new member of RFA. It's our first meeting! Of course I'm excited,"

Smirk in Eun Ha's lips vanished, replaced by disappointment that ebbed deeply in Eun Ha's chest. As Zen stated it was their first meeting, when in fact, it was not. She remembered every details of it, he didn't seem like he aged. That same gorgeousness.. It was like seeing a statue from Greece Era that sculpted from the best material came to life! Eun Ha would never forget Zen's kindness of giving her bread when she barely survived a few years ago. Apparently Zen forgot about it. It was predictable, remembering she was not that important to be remembered about. But, she was fine with it. Zen called her cute, nothing can dampen her spirit.

"Come, sit down," Zen said

Zen invited them inside the room, inviting another killer gaze from the fangirls. It was a room with full of mirror like Eun Ha used to remember if she watched Super Junior practiced their dancing. Spacious – thanks God – and lit perfectly by the sunlight seeping through large windows at the right side. They sat on a wooden floor. It was cold but clean. No one wore their shoes in this room so they could sit anywhere they like.

"Sorry, no couch here. We're just sitting around like this when we take a break. It's clean though," Zen said, turning his head slightly toward his fans direction and winked at them, continued by a loud shrieked coming from the girls

Zen smiled again to Eun Ha, though Eun Ha had to hide her uneasiness both coming from the girls and Zen's fanservice.

"Yeah, it's nice," Eun Ha retorted with a slight smile

Three of them sat in circle a bit far from the fangirls, while other actors and actresses seemed to chat around and created circle by themselves.

"We're only on a break for 10 minutes," he leaned back, sustained his weight with his arm, "You have nothing to do after this, right? I hope you could see me practice," Zen begged

"Okay. I'll continue my date with Eun Ha afterwards~," Yoosung teased

"Oh no no no, you can't do that kid. We're going to have dinner together after this session over. You've already got a date with her, plus you've been with her for a couple hours in class, that counts too,"

Eun Ha laughed when she remembered how cute Yoosung in class. Getting a quiz that you didn't know before could be a catastrophe. After all, she was once a college student just like Yoosung.

"I spent my time in class sulking you know. I didn't have time to pay attention to any materials," Yoosung pouted

"Aww.. Does that mean I'm a terrible teacher?" Eun Ha asked, pretended to be sulking

"Ah.. No! I don't mean anything like that.. It's just.." Yoosung stammered

"Hey, how dare you make our precious new member sad like this," Zen said, hit Yoosung in the head, "Don't worry babe, I'll protect you from this boy,"

Zen naturally put his arm on Eun Ha's shoulder. Eun Ha could barely breathe by the time their body become closer. She was so thankful for her long bangs covering half of her eyes so that Zen probably wouldn't notice her reddened face.

"Hey hey, don't put your hand so casually on her shoulder like that. You're full of sweat," Yoosung snapped, wrenched Zen's arm from Eun Ha's shoulder

"Ah, sorry, what can I do, it's a habit," Zen laughed

"I'm okay though," Eun Ha said sotto voce

She didn't mind to be closer to Zen actually. He smells so great even though he was drenched in his sweat. She would even want to buy the T-shirt worn by Zen now if there were an auction.

"Haha anyway, how's the preparation of the party going? I know that it's only been the second day that you joined us, but do you have any possible guest that you wish to invite by now?" Zen asked

"Yeah, I'm curious too. We need to make a list of guest first. Rika used to do that," Yoosung said

"Well, I haven't done anything to prepare for the party. I met Jaehee yesterday and she explained to me what I should do. But, we don't even have an exact date for the party, how should I tell the guest if they ask about when the party will be held?" Eun Ha asked

"Hmm, you're right," Zen touched his chiseled chin, "We still need to know when it is going to be held though,"

"What if we just inform them that there would be a party? Just don't tell them the date yet. That might do," Yoosung suggested

"Ah, you're right!" she exclaimed, "Is that what Rika always do?"

"Yeah, I've hosted parties 2 times till now. I know Rika so well. We prepared 6 months for our first party 4 years ago," he smiled, "Zen wasn't a member of RFA back then,"

"Is that so?" she turned her head toward Zen, "I thought all of you knew each other for a very long time," Eun Ha said

"No," Zen shook his head, "I met Rika 3 years ago. I was just finished performed on a stage, and she waited for me going out from dressing room," he smiled, "It was the first time I met a fan who recognized me for my talent not merely my looks,"

Eun Ha took a close look at Zen's facial expression. His red eyes that used to flame brightly in every single selfie he posted on timeline seemed to tone down a ladder. Like seeing another side of him that Eun Ha couldn't figure out yet. He kept staring down at the wooden floor, smiling widely yet gently, as if resurfacing a piece of sweet memory inside his mind. An image of Rika's swarming inside Zen's mind perhaps was the reason behind his sweet gentle smile. Somehow, she felt a tad jealous of Rika's shadow inside his mind. But another side of her couldn't deny, Rika must have been truly special in every RFA's member. Even RFA stood as Rika's legacy in this world while she no longer existed. She couldn't just erase Rika even if she replaced her job as a coordinator of RFA's party now.

"So, you got asked to join RFA right away then?" Eun Ha asked

"Nope," he blinked his eyes once, returned to the present day, "I joined perhaps 3 months after I met Rika dan V. To be honest, I was on the verge of quitting acting at that time,"

Her heart sank, "Oh no, why? Don't ever do that,"

"Yeah, I'm glad that I didn't give up my acting. It was all because of V that I became this big now. He surely knows how to lift everyone's spirit," Zen muttered, "He is a kind person, but I have no idea what he's been up to lately. He should be sending some pictures once in a while, so we know how he's doing at least. But he prefers solitude,"

"He's been like that ever since he shocked us all by Rika's news. He didn't even tell us how she died exactly," Yoosung yelled, "No body, no will, Rika didn't leave anything behind. How can I be sure what he said was true?"

Yoosung glared at Zen, while the older man was left speechless by Yoosung's sudden rage. Eun Ha couldn't say anything about it. Her past memory with Jaehee resurfaced. _"_ _Currently, V is not really active in the organization. So, everyone is probably hoping for V to come back. Except for Yoosung,"_ Jaehee told her yesterday. And now, Eun Ha knew what Jaehee meant by that. Yoosung still had incredulity toward V's statement. Eun Ha was left speechless too. She was both new to this organization, and she didn't even hear full story about Rika. She couldn't decide what she believed in, Yoosung or V.

"What if.. Rika was alive?" Yoosung asked

"Hey, does it make any sense to you?" Zen yelled, "V told us that it was suicide. She drowned herself, so finding her body would be hard. Why do you think V lie to us about that? They plan to get married,"

"I know. I'm not making any sense. It's just, I always feel something sketchy with V. He didn't say much either when he was being interrogated by police," Yoosung sighed

"Perhaps Jumin interfered. They are childhood friends so Jumin must know that V would still be upset because of Rika's death. Maybe Jumin pleaded for V to be released using his wealth,"

"V and Jumin are childhood friend?" Eun Ha asked

"Yeah, they went to the same elementary school and middle school. They grew up in an extremely rich neighborhood. That trust fund jerk, a robot like him is so fortunate to have a friend like V," Zen said

Eun Ha went silent again. Watching Zen trashed Jumin like that was not a surprise for Eun Ha. Before she met Zen in person, Jumin and Zen always bicker at each other in chat room. Zen seldom called Jumin by his name. He always called him the silverspoon or trust fund jerk or simply a jerk. Zen warned her to be careful too around him. But she had no problem whatsoever with Jumin. Zen might have some story with rich people because he always dissed Jumin every time they were together in chat room. Jumin was indeed the wealthiest person in the group. Moreover, Jumin always brag about Elizabeth the 3rd which triggered Zen's allergy of cats. Zen wouldn't stop sneezing every time Jumin posted Elizabeth the 3rd's photos. Poor him.

But Eun Ha could feel that Zen was the one who started all the bickering. He was the first one who trashed Jumin before Jumin could say anything. Eun Ha didn't really know what happened with them but she hoped they would make up some day.

"I would like to meet V," Eun Ha said

"Someday you'll meet him. I'm sure of it," Zen said, "Anyways, I can't figure out what V is thinking. He's probably with Seven trying to find out who led you to the apartment. I am a member, so I fully trusted V and intend to follow whatever he decides. I hope you get the chance to talk to V more. But unfortunately… he rarely logs in to chat room,"

"Why doesn't V chat often?" Eun Ha asked

"You can only log in to the chat room when you have internet. And V travels a lot these days. So.. I think it's because he often goes to places where he doesn't have internet access. I don't know why he travels that much though," Zen said

"He's being weirder now," Yoosung said

"Don't say that thing to Rika's fiancé, kid. He was the one who was chosen by Rika after all," Zen said

"Yoosung, I'm sorry, but I don't understand. What did V do to you? I'm sorry but I feel like you resent him too much," Eun Ha finally said her uneasiness

"Well, a brother hating sister's husband is not new though. Classic soap opera story," Zen teased

"I'm not like that! V was the one who is strange!" Yoosung snapped

"Okay okay, don't get worked out too much. I'm just kidding, haha" Zen grinned

Before Yoosung could say anything, Zen's break was over. Eun Ha and Yoosung were asked to stay and watch Zen's practices until the end. He wanted to take them to his friend's restaurant after practice ended. Yoosung and Eun Ha agreed to it.

Zen was back in his practice again. It was the first time for Eun Ha to watch Zen closely like this. She never dreamt of having luxurious meeting with Zen as all she did was admiring Zen's photos from her SNS timeline. She intended to keep this information to herself. She didn't want Yoosung know that she had a crush for Zen for a very long time. She tried to keep everything to be as casual as it could be and pretended that she was just a normal girl joining an unknown quest of hosting a party.

Suddenly, Eun Ha's phone vibrated and showed Seven's profil picture on it. She smiled a bit because she could hear her favorite hacker's voice again. She went out of the rehearsal room to take Seven's call. She leaned on the wall and cleared her throat before she answered it. She reached her phone. With joyous voice and sparkles eyes, she answered it at last.

"Hello," Eun Ha said


	7. Chapter 7

_It was a dark room full of computers and flat screens. No one would know whether it was day or night as there was no single light that could penetrate that room. A series of coding and algorithm radiated from the entire screens, along with symbols of one eyed Horus in every corner. The air was stuffy yet it was not a problem for a young man who sat straight in front of bunch of computers. Typing endlessly, he didn't pay any attention toward anything else. He didn't even fix his black leather jacket to cover his skinny upper arm tattooed the same one eyed Horus like in those screens._

 _At some point, he stopped typing and fixed his gaze to those screens._

 _One of the screens, the one in the left side, displayed what seemed to be a picture of a very handsome, slim, tall young man with noticeable muscletone beneath his shirt, perfectly fair-skinned, wearing long sleeve white shirt which folded in his elbow, black jeans, sunglasses, and silver-white long hair with short bangs falling slightly over his red eyes and tied in a low ponytail reaching down his back. He was seen getting out from a building named GD Entertainment at the front hall. It was Ryu Hyun, or mostly known as Zen, like the name stated in the information beside the picture._

 _Another screen displayed a tall, also slim – although not very muscled like Zen – young man with messy short dark hair in a suit. He wore grey tie, well-suited with his sharp grey eyes. He looked so busy escaping a flock of reporters surrounded him in the airport. The man sitting in the room knew perfectly well, it was another scandal for a man in suit. It was Han Jumin, an heir of the 5_ _th_ _largest company in South Korea, C &R International._

 _The man's gaze moved from Han Jumin to the younger man's picture above it. There were 2 pictures of the same young man but different hair colors. One was dark brown and the other was blond. The one with dark brown hair was wearing a high school uniform, a jacket, a long-sleeved collared white shirt, a tie, and dress trousers. He was leaning on the wall of a school's front gate while lifting his left arm to see his watch. Her curled his lower lip, seemed like he was waiting for someone. The other one, the blond one, looked a bit older than the previous one. But he looked leaner. His thick bags under his eyes completed the idea that he was somehow lack of nutrition and suffered from sleep deprived the older he got. The information beside his pictures stated his name was Kim Yoosung, a college student of Yonsei University, one of three prestigious university in South Korea known as SKY University._

 _Then, the man's gaze turned into a picture of a woman with short brown hair and glasses beside Yoosung's pictures. A sternful face with her goldish brown eyes, seen getting out from C &R International building with lots of things carried in her arm, mostly papers. She wore a white shirt, a dark brown to black jacket with skirt and shoes and dark tights. Her name was Kang Jaehee, a secretary of Han Jumin._

 _But then, that young man with tattoo fixed his gaze to the red haired young man in the screen in front of him. Suddenly his eyes widened. A shrill laughter echoed around the corner of the room. Streak tears of joy escaped from his mint colored eyes, and he smirked. He swiped his white-pink tips hair to the back. He didn't take his eyes off the picture of that red haired young man._

" _RFA's party is fake," that young man muttered with pitched voice, "V, all that man plans is just hypocritical trickery. My savior said to be especially careful.. I must invite you all to the real party, and get rid of those traitors.. That's how my savior predicted the future, and I'm only a messenger. Have fun … preparing for RFA's last party. That party may end up as the invitation to our party of paradise,"_

 _He gripped tightly of the monitor displaying a red haired young man with yellow black stripes glasses in his violet sport car. He widened his mint colored eyes and leaned forward into the screen, smirked even wider, "Luciel… A traitor like you will never be invited to our paradise.."_

…

With unsteadily movements, Seven went through the trouble of getting his favorite Ph. D Pepper soda drink from his fridge and gulped it down in one time. His red tank top was wet from Ph. D Pepper that was spilled due to his haste of getting rid of his thirst. But he didn't bother to change his clothes, not to mention he didn't have that many clothes despite his wealth of being a secret agent plus a hacker.

A pair of jeans, empty cans of Ph. D Pepper, lots of half-eaten Honey Buddha Chips littered the floor. He didn't take a glance at how mess his house was. After all, Vanderwood would come and clean his house as usual.

Vanderwood was his handler, though Seven addressed him as his maid sometimes. He even told the RFA members that he had a maid named Mary Vanderwood the 3rd – a parody for Jumin's cat, Elizabeth the 3rd – and sent his crossdressing pictures he took to the RFA chat room when he disguise himself as a maid in one of his secret mission as an agent. If he could brag like Zen, he admitted that he looked a lot like woman in that pictures. He wore a French maid costume, a black with white trim one-piece dress with a full skirt above knee length, white half apron with lace, white tights, and black high heels. To be added, he wore a long red hair wigs and full make-up, eye lashes, mascara, lipstick, foundation, everything. Anyone who looked at the picture would certainly fail to see that it was not a real woman, Zen was one of them. Seven was completely laughing out loud when Zen stated in the chat room that Mary Vanderwood looked fairly photogenic. Zen cursed himself after that.

The real Agent Vanderwood was a tall man, shoulder-length brown haired, and always wore a black shirt with a purple collar and a black jacket with leopard print patterns on the underside. The red haired young hacker and Vanderwood had known each other for 6 years, ever since Seven went abroad to study in college at fairly young age, 14 years old, and joined a secret intelligent agency by V's order. He was said to be the youngest secret agent in the Agency and Vanderwood was assigned to watch over him. And by watch over, it meant his only job was to make sure Seven completed his work for agency in a right amount of time.

There were times when Seven thought highly of his handler, him being the younger one to be added. But Seven found out later it was fun teasing his handler one time or two. The face Vanderwood made while holding out his temper was one of a kind. Wrinkled eyebrows, squinted eyes, thinned lips, and flared nostrils, Vanderwood looked extraordinarily hilarious in Seven's eyes. At least, it was before the handler took out his one and only weapon he brought anywhere he went, taser gun. Seven didn't fancy of getting hit once again by that weapon.

He threw an empty can of Ph. D Pepper and took another from the fridge. He took a sip this time and walked back to his working room full of computers and CCTV footage from a few different places. His surveillance cameras in one of CCTV caught on a scene where a couple of middle aged men circling around the table, smoking their cigars and drinking scotch in their hand as they talked about money and politics. Seven noticed one of the men to be an important person from Ministry of Finance. The fact that someone from the government were caught in the surveillance, Seven had already guessed that there might be sort of a criminal case happened inside the government. A white collar crime they said.

There was nothing good about being a secret agent and a genius hacker. True, he was paid very well for his dirty job from his agency that he could buy a few cars and build a home-like-fortress. But other than those things, he had nothing but a life of solitude. He also made pact of not having a deep relationship with any human beings. Marriage for example. That was the deal of joining the agency.

His only salvation was only his sport cars. The adrenalin rush that he got from racing his cars was the best thing that could happen once in a while.

At least he knew how to deal with his emptiness in his heart.

Joining RFA was another thing. To be a part of charity organization that V and Rika made was one of the ways he could cleanse his sinful existence. The agency still had no idea about RFA, although Seven got into the agency thanks to V – V remained silent for Seven's espousal in RFA. Agent Vanderwood was the only one from the agency who knew about it. And he swore he wouldn't tell the agency as long as he didn't neglect his main job.

But the accident that occurred in RFA yesterday in which Eun Ha magically joining RFA was an exception for him. He didn't really do his job well in the agency because his mind was occupied with the safety of the new member, Eun Ha. Let alone he had to figure out who that Unknown person was. Seven needed to find out why that Unknown person used Eun Ha to acquire information about the last party's guests. And most important thing, Unknown's real identity.. Was that person really the one who was sent by Rika like V said before? He really need to solve this case first if he wanted to move on and finished the tasks that agency gave him.

It was a hard option. He wanted to make sure of Eun Ha's safety by finding out whom that Unknown was. On the other hand, he really need to solve the case that his agency gave him, otherwise his life might be in jeopardy. It was nice if he were the only one who would be in jeopardy, but it was not that simple. A lot of innocence's life could also be in danger if he didn't do what the agency assigned him to. So, it was between saving RFA members or a lot of innocent people. Tough choice.

He chose RFA anyway.

Seven glanced to the CCTV in his upper right. It was CCTV outside Rika's office tel. He noticed that Eun Ha hadn't returned to the office tel since 11 am that afternoon. She told Seven that she would go out only for a couple hours. It was already 5 pm according to his watch. Maybe her definition for a couple hours was different from other people.

She didn't tell him where she'd go. Secret, huh? That was not a new thing in Seven's life story though..

But he didn't want to ask her, though every cell in his body was screaming and yelling at him to find out where she might be and why she hadn't returned till that late. Perhaps she went to meet her friends or her family. She wasn't someone who would spend the rest of her life confined in one place like him. She had a life too outside RFA. Perhaps.. She met her boyfriend?

Yeah, he couldn't deny the possibility of her having a boyfriend. And now that she had joined the organization, the chance of her meeting with every member of RFA was not impossible. She met Jaehee already yesterday. Perhaps, she would meet Zen or Yoosung next? Zen and Yoosung were the eager ones to know what Eun Ha looked like. And both of them had told her that they longed to have a girlfriend from the first time she logged in to the chat room. The possibility of Eun Ha being together with one of them was not zero at all. Perhaps, in the end, Seven would get an invitation of her wedding anytime soon, and another invitation might follow up from every member of RFA in every year.

But that would never happen in his life. To be able to breathe and barely alive till now was already a luxury for him. He never intended to live until old age reached him. He just wanted to die young and preserved his young face till the end. Just like Lady Diana who would never grow old in everyone's memory. Still beautiful, until the race of humanities faded.

He checked CCTV outside Rika's office tel again. Still no sign of her anywhere.

Seven picked up his cell phone. Hoping that Eun Ha would magically appear in his phone's screen and call him. But he knew that he was not a wizard who could make anyone appeared by wishing it, so he risked to call her first at last.

He didn't even finish hearing the first ringtone, but she picked up right away, as if she had been waiting for his call..

No, it wouldn't likely. She must have her phone right in front of her, so that she could answer his call right away. It was stupid for having an imagination that she had been waiting for his call. He was no one to her after all.

"Hello," Eun Ha answered

Abnormality struck his heart right when one syllable went out from the girl's mouth. Had he attached a heart monitor in his chest, the machine would probably have told him there had been a chance of heart attack.

"Seven.. Hello?" she called again

Seven cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"RESPOND! MAYDAY MAYDAY!" Seven screamed

He decided to pull some pranks on her.

"What's going on? Are you okay?" Eun Ha asked worriedly

 _Gotcha!_

"Oooooh a survivor!" he giggled

"What's up meow? Over," Eun Ha replied with a serious voice, yet, she giggled not a moment after

"Woow, I never expected this kind of response, hahha" he exclaimed, happy at the response

"Well, I kinda know that you're gonna do some pranks on me though," Eun Ha said

"Whuutttzzzz? How? How could you knooow?"

"I know you, Seven. You already put a prank on me the first time you called me, remember? Sooo, I know that you might pull some prank again this time, haha" Eun Ha chuckled, "Well, it's not that hard though. I kinda know who you are Seven,"

" _No, you don't know anything about me,"_ Seven thought, _"Not in a slight,"_

"Seven? Is there something wrong? Over," Eun Ha asked

"Ah.. no, no. Sorry~ maybe my soul got stuck in the space for a moment there," Seven said, teasing Eun Ha

"Woow, how could you go into space without asking me to join you.. Ckckck.. You're too much God Seven!" Eun Ha pouted

"Gaaaahhh, sorry~ I'll take you too someday~ But now~ I'm going to ask you something~" Seven said

"Yes, God Seven. Your humble servant is ready to hear your words~" Eun Ha said

" _Silly girl, why do you have to cope with my joke like this?"_ Seven thought

"Where are you now? You haven't gone back to office tel.. Or.. maybe.. you wore some sort of Ninja's outfit to blend to your surrounding and got inside the office tel without me knowing?" Seven asked, half joking and half curious at the same time

"A ninja outfit? Hmm~ Why didn't I think about it, huh," Eun Ha said, "Well, maybe I'll consider to wear it if you wear that too. We could be a couple you know," she giggled

Seven felt his heart ache at her point of becoming a couple, as he knew by heart that he would never have that kind of relationship.

"Maybe~ yes maybe no," Seven chuckled, "Anyway, where are you right now?"

He needed the answer.

"I'm with Zen and Yoosung now. I watched Zen's rehearsal and we plan to have dinner together afterwards. I thought you've read the chat," Eun Ha said

How could he be correct with his thoughts before? It was not only with Zen, she went with Yoosung too!

"Nope, so busy, no time for chat," Seven said

"But, you called me right now~" Eun Ha said

"Tha.. that.. that's because you haven't… gone back to the office tel!" Seven stammered

"Awww, so you're worried about me?" Eun Ha teased

"Gaaaahhhh, stop teasing me," Seven growled

"Haha okay okay," Eun Ha said, "So~ how have you been Seven?"

"Well, I'm fine. Still breathing and alive," Seven relaxed

"Have you eaten yet?"

"Of course~ Ph. D Pepper and Honey Buddha Chips are always by my side~"

"That's not a proper meal though," Eun Ha said, concerned, "I wish I could cook you something if I were by your side,"

Seven didn't reply anything to her. Deep down, he longed for something like that. Someone who would concern about his well-being.. But he didn't want to continue this kind of conversation. It only made him feel more suffer.

"Hmm~ Anyway, I checked one last time," Seven said, changing the subject, "…whether you had anything to do with the hacker, but you're clean!"

"Of course I am, I know nothing about the Unknown or the hacker," Eun Ha said in relieved

"Yes, and I'm still trying to look up anything about the hacker, but to tell you the results so far, the hacker that led you to the apartment, doesn't seem to have any distinct qualities. So I think it's safe to say that you're completely safe! I'll tell V, so no worries!" Seven said with a happy tone

"Thanks, Seven," Eun Ha replied

"Ooooh, compliment! Yup, I'll try harder!"

"Yes, but, don't forget to concern about your health too Seven. You can only protect me if you're one hundred percent healthy. So, you need to promise me that you will take care of your body. Okay?" Eun Ha told him

"Okay madam~"

He turned his eyes to the floor beneath his feet. Empty cans of Ph. D Pepper and Honey Buddha Chips covered his floor. He hadn't even eaten nor drunk anything beside those for days. So much for a healthy life.. Nevertheless, Seven agreed to her. Disagreement would only make things complicated though.

"Hey Seven," Eun Ha said slowly

"Hmm~"

"Don't you have any new photos of you? Hmm, I've met Yoosung and Zen already, but I haven't met you. So, I want to know how you look like too.." Eun Ha said

"Me?! You want to see me? Not satisfied with my profile pic?!" Seven asked

"Well, no. You don't seem like the type to take selfies like Zen, so, I kinda curious about you," Eun Ha said

"Humm~ Careful now~, you can't get close with someone so dangerous like me~" Seven said with a playful tone

It was a threat. She really couldn't get any closer than this. Not even become his best friend. No, he didn't deserve anyone. His life was full of shit anyway.

"Hmm~ but you seem nice to me Seven," Eun Ha said, "But, ok then, I won't push you though,"

Seven was glad that she didn't make him do anything beyond his will, but somehow, he felt a bit disappointed that she gave up so easily. It was complicated. Torn between two sides of coins and didn't know how to act was annoying.

"Maybe I'm not fancy of taking selfies, but I do love cats!" Seven said

Cat? _Cat?!_ Why in the world he mention cat at that precise moment? Not to mention, there was no connection between selfies and his love toward cat! Perhaps his brain was malfunctioning.. He could only wish she didn't ask more about his incoherent statement..

"Well, just adopt one. I know how you love Elly.. You even learn waltz, tango, and samba for Elly," Eun Ha giggled

Thanks God she didn't ask more. But how could she remember about that? It was his status in RFA Messenger Application precisely an hour before she logged in.

"You read my status?" Seven asked

"Yeah, haha" Eun Ha said, "I couldn't help imagining you, in a suit, and Elly with her princess outfit, white dress with lace and a tiny tiara in her head, on waltz together. How you had to slouch so low until your knees and elbows touched the floor in order to keep your eyes fixated toward Elly," she laughed, "Or you could just put Elly on your chest and dancing around! Oh my.. I'd love to take a pic of you both if it really comes true!" she shrieked joyfully

"Eun Ha.." he was speechless at her thoughts, "How could we think the same thing?!" he shrieked as well, excited at the thought, "It is really my happiness for eternity~ But how could I.." he sighed, "Jumin would never let his precious one danced with me," he sulked, blowing out his cheeks

"Ah.. yes.. Jumin.. He really adores his cat, doesn't he? When did he get her?" she asked

"Hmm~" he pondered, "Probably 3 years ago?" his brows furrowed, trying to dig into his memory, "Yeah! 3 years ago! Rika gave it to him as a present, but V named her.."

"Elizabeth the 3rd," she completed the sentence, "What a fancy name, don't you think?"

"Indeed~ Although I prefer calling her Elly~" he giggled, "Anyway, I'd love to adopt one, like you said. But I can't.. My maid Mary Vanderwood the 3rd said so. If I raise a cat, my house would become impossible, so I shouldn't get one! She said she would need a pay raise if I get a cat! Twice the current pay! If that happened, I would become broke because of a cat!" Seven said

"Wow, your maid is very fierce," Eun Ha said

"Yup. But I love her accent though. She came from UK!" Seven said, "And literally, she cleans the whole house and disappears in the blink of eyes. Anyhow, can't ever raise Mary Vanderwood's pay!"

"Woow, how convenient of you to have a British maid! I love all about British! You should let me meet her some day. I want to speak British with her too!"

"Hmm, I don't know. I guess she didn't really want to meet another people beside me!" Seven said

"Why? Is she shy or something?" Eun Ha asked

"Yeah, kind of. Anyway! I should just live a humble life with my babies for now!"

"Babies? You have babies, Seven? You're married?!" she uttered in shock

Seven laughed, "No~ I called my cars with babies~ They're cars, but I love them like my own blood~ I cleaned them myself.. Couldn't let them touched by another men nor machines~" he answered, still laughing

"Fiuh.. I thought you're married by accident or something.."

He kept giggling at her reaction, "No~ I'm still young~ Never thinking about settle up so soon~"

"Ah.. Is that so? Hmm, different with me though.. I wish I could marry the one I love as soon as I met him," she giggled

His smile dissipated quickly as fast as it had placed upon. Of course.. It was every girls' dreams for getting married as soon as possible. Somehow, disappointment filled his entire being and random thoughts swarmed in his mind, like hearing an airwaves coming from an old radio, _"If.. I met her in another state of life.. Could we be together?"_

He shook his head. Silly him.. How could he even think such thing..

"So~ Have you found him yet?" he asked

His heart never beats any faster than that very moment. Somehow, the clock seemed to move slower than it was supposed to be. He could even hear the second hand in the clock up above his PCs. Loud and clear. Every second passed equal with 10 heartbeats in his left chest. He hardly breathes. He placed his right palm into his left chest, trying to control his heart beats into normal.

"Hmm," she hummed

He closed his amber colored eyes and allowed himself hearing the most mellifluous hummed he ever heard. Although he feared the continuation of it.

"Well?" he asked again, his jaw clenched tightly

"Nope, I haven't found him yet," she answered, laughing nervously

A smirk imprinted on his lips as soon as her answer ringing on his ear. _"So, she was still single?"_ he thought lightheartedly. He clenched his palm now, and placed it on his lips, trying to hold his yelp of merriment only for himself.

He cleared his throat, still unable to wipe out his smirk, "Well, don't worry.. There are a looooot of fish in this world~" he muttered, giggling

She chuckled, "Yeah.. Lots of them.. But finding one who's on the same page with me is a rare breed. Perhaps, an alienated deep sea fish who is on the verge of extinction.." she muttered, "But over all, I seek for someone who literally head over heels for an ordinary girl like me, and that's not so easy I can tell you,"

His hand felt sweaty now. Even he had a hard time gripping his phone to its right place beside his left ear. Somehow her answer resonated over and over again in his mind. An alienated one? Deep sea fish?

He gulped, as he imagined the things the girl just said somehow resemblance him so well. How he always dwell in a dark life of being an secret agent.. All those dirty works he did for the Agency.. He was literally the alienated deep sea fish..

"Hope you could find him soon," he muttered with a smile

"Yeah.. I hope.." she answered, "I hope I could find someone like you who's head over heels for your babies.." she chuckled

His heart skipped a bit once again. Someone like him? So.. He had a chance?

Seven's eyes widened in shock.. _"No! What are you thinking you fool!"_ he cursed himself in silence.

"I know right?" he laughed, trying to hide his true feelings, "My babes, just looking at them makes me feel full! Sound of car engine equals with cat purring! Although I don't have a cat, I'm happy with my babes. No extra cost but with all the fun!" Seven retorted in excitement

"Good! Two birds with one stone!" Eun Ha said, excited as well

"Wow! You totally get me! So cool!" he laughed, "Indeed, I'm the Master of Economy! Kneel before my humble life!" Seven said

"Kneel! Meow!" Eun Ha exclaimed

Seven laughed so hard at Eun Ha's jokes. He never knew that Eun Ha could be as ridiculous as him.

"You're so hilarious, Eun Ha!"

"You are too my Master of Economy!" Eun Ha laughed again

Suddenly, there was a slight change in one of CCTV. Those middle aged men started to bargain about something. And one person opened up a case full of money. His smile dissipated. Seven needed to look more carefully about this.

"Anyway, sorry Eun Ha, I'll have to get back to work,"

One man was handling over some documents. Seven needed to take look to those documents and made a copy of them. He began typing in his keyboard.

"Don't go," Eun Ha pleaded

Seven stopped his fingers from dancing around above the keyboard and focused on the voice in his left ear. His heart was torn into pieces after hearing that cute voice of begging him stay on the phone. Never before he heard such a thing in his dreadful life.

"I'll be back asap! Have a great night! Tell me if you reach office tel, okay?"

"Yeah, okay then. Talk to you soon, Seven."

"Bye,"

Seven disconnected the phone call. He didn't really want to end that phone call. He wanted to keep calling her like a normal person would do. But, he was not normal. All he could do right now was making sure that he knew everything that happened with those middle aged men. As it was his job after all.


	8. Chapter 8

Eun Ha returned to the rehearse room afterward and sat beside Yoosung; who was fixing his gaze into his yellow flip flop smartphone. There was an odd happy feeling after she ended her phone call with Seven. All those conversations.. They seemed getting along pretty well. That was a good start, considering how new she really was in RFA.

"Eun Ha? Who were you talking with?" Yoosung asked her

The girl kept her eyes fix into the wooden floor near her feet. She didn't seem to realize the blond haired boy beside her furrowed his eyebrows out of wonder why she placed a smile in her face. What the boy didn't know was, her mind was a bit occupied by the previous conversation she had with the hacker, which lead a smile painted in her small face.

" _Babies?"_ silently she chuckled. She hadn't met anyone who adored their cars like Seven adored his. Zen told her he had several. She couldn't begin to imagine how wealthy the hacker could be. All her life, she could only see sport cars through movies or dramas. Even looking at the limousine was a brand new experience for her.

But something disturbed her. Seven told her not the get any close with someone so dangerous like him. What did he mean by that? Something was definitely fishy about it. Secret agent, huh? Like fancy cars, she never got any chances in her 24 years of living of meeting one, until Choi Luciel, Seven's baptismal name, appeared in her life. She wanted to ask more of it to Seven, but she feared she would cross the line.

"Eun Ha~" Yoosung spoke again, poking Eun Ha's right cheek at the process

"Huh?" she frantically turned her head toward the source voice, "What?" she asked, after focusing her pupils to Yoosung's violet's eyes

"What were you thinking?" he asked

"Ah.. Nothing," she nervously answered

She lied to Yoosung. She didn't really want to confess what she thought about Seven. She didn't want to implant to Yoosung's mind that she grew interest for the fellow member; as it would probably lead to unnecessary fuss.

"Did you say something before?" Eun Ha asked

"Yeah.. I asked you, who were you talking with?"

"Oh.. that.." she answered, smiling, "It was Seven.. He told me I'm clean and nothing to worry about. Though he was still figuring out about the Unknown. He would report to V about it,"

"Ah, it's a relieved then.." he smiled and went back staring at his phone

"What are you doing?" Eun Ha asked, leaning closer to Yoosung in order to get a better look at his phone screen

"It's.. another game I play beside LOLOL.." he replied, showing his phone screen to Eun Ha, "Sad to think LOLOL hasn't been created for smartphone yet," he sighed

"Is it fun?" she asked curiously

"Not as fun as LOLOL to be sure.."

Then, another minute later, Eun Ha found herself joining a detail conversation about LOLOL world. She was not a gamer so her mind went blank when Yoosung talked about the game.

Eun Ha googled about LOLOL's storyline out of curiosity. But she got more confused as she didn't know where to start reading. There were a lot of sites talking about LOLOL. Eun Ha opened each sites to get to know more about LOLOL. Yoosung pointed out what sites she needed to look at. If she wanted to know more about LOLOL's storyline, she needed to go to The Chamber of Antiquity, he said. So, she googled that and clicked the first site at the top of search results. And she was stunned by the marvelous pictures of this game.

She found out that there were a few different cities in this game. For the starter, she tried to grasp the characters. Apparently there were champions, and Yoosung was ranked number 2 in Shooting Star server. After scrolling for a while, she was stunned again at one of the cities because it looked a lot like White City in The Lord of The Rings. The citadel, the white hall; it looked so similar and great. No wonder Yoosung loved playing this game so much.

Eun Ha told Yoosung the similarities between the city in LOLOL and The White City of Gondor. She never expected it but Yoosung was so psyched at the information, as he also thought the same. Apparently he and Seven loved watching The Lord of The Rings too. Too much if she could add – both of them didn't really spend a minute off from the TV, or even went to the loo. For the record, each movie was more than 3 hours length, moreover the third movie, it reached 4 hours and 12 minutes! Extended version actually. Eun Ha loved The Lord of The Rings, she even remembered several lines from the movie, but she didn't watch it unstoppably like Yoosung and Seven.

Both of them chatted over and over again about every scene in the movie. Until one time, Eun Ha and Yoosung were so psyched and literally shrieked together when they found out they had the same favorite scene in the movie. Everyone turned toward them and they saw Zen signaled them to be silent with a light smile and a wink. Both of them apologized to the crews. They forgot that they were at the rehearse room full of actor and actresses. To be able to see their rehearsal was nice enough though.

Not long after that they went on silence and talked through their phone. They exchanged notes through Eun Ha's phone. They giggled at each other comment toward their favorite scenes in that movie. Frankly, they were happy that they found something in common to talk about.

Suddenly, a chat popped out. It was V! Eun Ha followed him logged in to the chat room as well. She wanted to ask him more about the party.

V has entered the chat room

Eun Ha has entered the chat room

V : Eun Ha-shi, you were here. I was worried no one would be here.

Eun Ha : Hello, V! Actually, I logged in too when I knew you were here.

V : Ah, is that so? I'm flattered. Haha

V : I hope you've been well. I apologize for not coming here often.

V : Have you had any trouble continuing Rika's work?

Eun Ha : I'm not sure yet..

V : Well, you just started so that is to be expected.

V : I was reading all the previous messages.

V : The expectation toward the party, the talk about Rika…

V : I read everything.

Eun Ha bit her lips when she read V's words. There was a distant feeling about him. Something made him look so vulnerable and weak. And her conversation between Zen and Yoosung before resurfaced. How vicious Yoosung could be at the mention of V's name, the doubts that every member of RFA had about V, the feeling of loosing his loved one, V might be living in a state of hell right now. That explained his preference of living in a complete solitude. But once again, perhaps he could find peace in that. At least that was what Eun Ha hoped for the best.

Eun Ha : Well, yeah. Actually, I'm with Yoosung and Zen right now. We're watching Zen's practice and I was with Yoosung at the time, so he tag along.. hehe

V : Yeah, I read it too.

Eun Ha : As you know, everyone's excited about the party. Three of us talked about the party too before you came here.

V : I see, you need plans for the party, right?

Eun Ha : Yeah.. We need to know when it will be.. how big it will be..

"What are you doing?" Yoosung suddenly asked. Perhaps he wondered why Eun Ha stopped sending him a message about The Lord of The Rings.

"Oh, V logged in to chat room. Do you want to join us?"

"No, I don't really want to chat with him," Yoosung snorted

His attitude changed again. He was so happy for a few minutes before, especially when they talked about their favorite movie. But he turned cold when he heard V's name. Yoosung focused in his phone again and sent a signal to Eun Ha that he was not to be disturbed.

Eun Ha felt a bit sad seeing the younger boy. She could understand why he felt such thing to V. She didn't blame him. Rika was everything to Yoosung. But she couldn't help feeling more symphatized toward V. As it was not V's fault at all if Rika decided to end her life. The doubt about Rika's death.. Well, why would V lie though? That didn't make any sense.

She returned to the messenger again.

V : It's only been two days since we started talking about the party again, so can you give me some more time?

Eun Ha : You need more time?

V : It's… something to think more about. Give me time.

V : Surprisingly, I've been receiving calls from some of the previous party guests. They have asked me about the plan of the party.

Eun Ha : Really?

Eun Ha : Someone must know that I've joined RFA.

V : There's no way the information leaked out from organization.

Eun Ha : Do you think.. it's related with the person who led me to Rika's office tel?

V : Yes, I think the same. It is clear that someone outside the organization knows about you.

Eun Ha : I really hope we figure out who that Unknown guy is…

V : Yes, me too… The reason why I need more time to set plans for the party is…

V : I want to start the work after we've secured your safety as much as possible.

Eun Ha : V, thank you for caring.

V : No need. It's what I ought to do.

V : We only confused you, by involving you in RFA without any official procedure.

Eun Ha : Don't think that way. I'm fine.

V : You are very kind.

Eun Ha : I hope we get to hold the party again. Everyone expected this party so much. I would never let you down.

V : Thank you. I'll try to set the schedule regarding the party soon. I'll make sure to meet up to that trust. No matter what happens.

V : Ah, I have to leave now. I have dinner plans with Rui.

Eun Ha : Rui?

V : Oh. He's a photographer I work with from time to time.

Eun Ha : Hmm, why don't you invite him to the party?

V : Ah. Yes. If possible I'll talk about the party too. He might be able to help us.

Eun Ha : Yes, thank you V.

V : Please take care of yourself, Eun Ha-shi. Don't skip meals even if you're busy. You lose everything if you lose your health.

Eun Ha : I will. Thank you. And same goes to you too, V.

V : As long as you are a member of the organization, you are like my family.

V : We don't know each other very well yet, but I think we will get closer as time passes.

Eun Ha : Thank you, V. And please chat with us more. Everyone wanted to know more about how you are doing. Everyone concerned about you.

V : Yes, I'll try. Anyway, I have to go now.

V : It's nice talking to you. Let's talk later.

Eun Ha : Bye, V.

V : Bye

V has left the chat room.

Eun Ha has left the chat room.

Eun Ha lifted her head again and watched Zen focused on his dancing. But her mind didn't really attach to her body. It flew past Zen's beautiful figurine, out of the rehearse room and imagining things about Rika. What really happened with her? All she could know about Rika was only from other's story about her. But mostly, she really was a person worth to be admired at. Creating a charity organization at fairly young age.. That was really remarkable.

And how did someone who dedicated her life for others suddenly decide to leave the world? The world she tried so hard to make worth living at.. Eun Ha didn't really understand why.

She clenched her phone tighter than before. The more she thought of Rika, the more curious she got. She turned to her right side. Yoosung was still playing a game in his phone. Still sulking. Totally not a proper person to gather information about Rika and V.

Talking with V all of sudden was a bit flustering for Eun Ha. V seemed like a nice person, just like Zen said before. Not to mention he also called her his family now that she joined the organization. And he practically concerned about her health! Now her determination to host a great party got bigger. She wanted to make V back into his old self once again, and Yoosung would befriends again with V. Well, if she could, she would really like to see Jumin and Zen made peace with each other. But probably, that wish would never come to light.

Zen's practice ended an hour later and Zen took Yoosung and Eun Ha to the promised restaurant that was owned by Zen's friend. But before that, Yoosung and Eun Ha were introduced to the entire crew of Zen's musical. And apparently, Zen invited the director in his musical project to attend RFA's party. Of course Eun Ha agreed to it and she asked for the director's email for further notice because they had not decided when the party would be held. The director agreed to it and he asked Eun Ha to watch Zen's performance the next time. Of course, she would gladly watch Zen's performance.

She never watched Zen's musical before because she didn't have much money back in her college days. But now even if she already making money, she didn't really have time to watch it either because she was occupied with many substitute classes and her translating job.

Anyway, Eun Ha got two guests on the list that day. She was so happy to be able to help everyone for making the party come true. Zen was both happy and sad too when he knew that V logged in to chat room earlier. He was excited because party seemed to be a real thing now, not only a hope. But he was sad that he missed chatting with V because of his practice. Yoosung got sulked again when they talk about V over and over again. So they stopped talking about V and got on a bus to go to Zen's friend's restaurant, Haejung.

Eun Ha noticed that there would always be girls giggling around Zen. Since they left the building, there were a bunch of girls following them and blatantly taking a picture of Zen. Zen seemed like he used to that kind of attention. He winked toward them from time to time.

But sometime, one of the girls pointed a finger to Eun Ha and secretly whispering something that Eun Ha couldn't hear. But Eun Ha could already guess what they were talking about. Being with Zen like this might start a gossip. But they should have pay attention more, because they were not alone, they went with Yoosung. They should have known that there would be nothing going on between Zen and Eun Ha, but they would never accept that fact. What they saw that night was Zen went out with a girl. Zen didn't seem to know about this fact. He kept on talking enthusiastically toward Yoosung and Eun Ha. Eun Ha sat on the bus, while Yoosung and Zen stood in front of her. There was not enough seat left in the bus, so they let Eun Ha sat in the remaining available seat.

Eun Ha felt a bit discomfort by those girls, but she chose not to show it in front of the guys. She pretended not to hear nor see it, though it was not easy. She put a smile in her face, and tried so hard to keep her discomfort behind her. She didn't want to make Zen and Yoosung worried about her.

Suddenly there was an old lady coming into the bus. Eun Ha didn't think for long, she gave her seat to the old lady. The old lady sent her gratitude to Eun Ha, and Eun Ha smiled back to her. She stood up eventually, and tried to hold the bus strap.

Alas, her hand couldn't hold the bus strap. It was pretty high. She was pretty short for a lady in her age. Zen and Yoosung were laughing by that fact. So, Zen offered his arm to her, which Eun Ha gladly accepted. Yoosung offered his arm as well, he never wanted to lose toward Zen. So Eun Ha grabbed both of their hand at last. She smiled so widely through the way. She didn't think about those girls anymore because she was happy enough to have friends like Zen and Yoosung.

After passing a few more blocks, they arrived at Haejung's restaurant. It was a lamb kebab restaurant with unique ornaments on the walls – Arabian style, colorful ceramic plates with differents designs, but mostly flowers – painted in red, complemented with also red couches. A few frames of pictures were also on the wall. Eun Ha spotted Zen was in one of the pictures as well. Zen and a man. Both of them smiled together and ate a skewer of lamb kebab with a food cart of lamb kebab as the background. Eun Ha could already guess; it was Haejung. That picture was said to be taken in 2012, four years ago. Seemed like Haejung and Zen went all the way back.

"Hyun, you came!" a man yelled, dashing toward Zen, Yoosung, and Eun Ha

That man was in similar height with Zen. He has a black short hair and a fit body, but he had a rough face line and darker skin.

"Oooooh, Haejung! Long time no see!" Zen said

They gave a strong side hug and tap on their shoulders repeatedly. They seemed very close to each other.

"Waaah, it's really been a long time. Where have you been exactly?" Haejung asked

"Well, busy with practice of course," Zen said smiling widely, "Oh, Haejung, meet my friends, you know Yoosung already right?"

"Of course I know, sometimes you come here too with your friends right?" Haejung asked

"Yes, you have the best place for kebab, hyung*" Yoosung said smiling

"And who might you be?" Haejung asked to Eun Ha

"Oh, I'm Lee Eun Ha. It is very nice to meet you," Eun Ha said, bowed a little

"She is our new party coordinator, Jung," Zen said

"Waaaah, I thought you're Hyun's new girlfriend," Haejung exclaimed, "He always brought a new girl every time he came here," he slouched and whispered to Eun Ha's ear. Yoosung snorted.

"No, no, she's a new member. And don't say that~ You make me look like a playboy," Zen said with a troubled face

"Well, aren't you?" Haejung teased, laughing

Eun Ha let out a bitter smile. She felt discomfort by the fact that Zen always brought different girls every time he visited this place. She already knew that he was so popular, so the chance of him dating different girls at the same time was not zero at all.

"Hey, hey, stop it.. Eun Ha, don't listen to him. He's joking, haha" Zen said, seeming more troubled by the minute

"It's okay, haha" Eun Ha said bitterly

"Anyway, come in~ come in~" Haejung said, leading them to the table in the corner

All of them walked toward the table. Eun Ha sat beside Zen, and Yoosung in front of her.

"Okay, 3 portions of lamb kebab I suppose?" Haejung asked, "Ah, what do you have for beverages?"

"I'll have ice tea," Yoosung said

"Me too," Zen said

"I'm lemon tea," Eun Ha said

"Okay~ I'll have them served for you in no time. Wait for a moment, okay?" Haejung asked

"Okay~" three of them replied in unison

Haejung went to the kitchen as fast as he could. One thing she realized from kebab restaurant, customers could see how the kebab was made. It was an open kitchen. Eun Ha noticed that Haejung worked so fast to make the kebab.

"So, how long have you been friends?" Eun Ha asked Zen

"Since I was in high school, maybe.. 6 years ago. I know him when I was in a gang," Zen said

"You were in a gang?" Eun Ha asked, utterly shocked by the new information

"Well, my high school career was quite something. I'm amazed that I still have all my limbs intact," Zen explained, "I was in motorcycle gangs, stole alcohol from liquor stores, and a lot of other bad things. I was a delinquent at that time. I have no intention to deny it. That was all part of me. I'm who I am now because I had that period of aimless wandering,"

"But you were still racing with your motorcycle when you first join us," Yoosung said

"Yeah, what can I do? I love riding my motorcycle. The sensation of the wind in my ear, that relaxes me when I had some trouble," Zen said

"I hope you concern more about your safety, Zen," Eun Ha said, worried

"You're right. I should have.. Remembering I was in an accident almost 3 years ago," Zen said

"Omg, why? What happened?" Eun Ha asked, turning her body into completely face to face with Zen

"You were in a bad shape at that time. I remember it, hyung," Yoosung said

"Yeah.. There was something with my career. I had some trouble with the agency back then. It was so stressful for me, so I rode it. Unfortunately, I lost my balance and fell. I would have been dead if it was not because of V," Zen said

"V?" Eun Ha asked

"Yes, V brought me to the hospital. He happened to be near me at that time. Turns out that he liked to follow me and secretly took my picture," Zen chuckled

"What a stalker," Yoosung muttered

"But _thanks_ to that, I was saved in time. Doctors said I wouldn't be saved if I was late even for a minute,"

Eun Ha's eyes were widened in fear. She didn't believe that Zen had a past like that. She met him for the first time 4 years ago and he seemed like a nice person, not a delinquent one. She never knew that Zen joined a gang or he had an accident which almost took his life. And V.. Was he a stalker? How could he secretly take Zen's picture while he was on his motorcycle? Did he follow Zen in a helicopter or something?

"How did V save you? You were in your motorcycle.. And I'm sure you rode it so fast. But how did V follow you and took your picture at the same time?" Eun Ha asked

"He followed Zen with a helicopter. He had a stalker instinct I suppose. Maybe that's how he got Rika too," Yoosung said bitterly

"Wooow, I don't know V could do something like that," Eun Ha said, caught between awe and weirdness

"He's really one of a kind," Zen said, "And he said he liked to take a picture of me. Well of course, I'm _that_ handsome. I'm sure my pictures worth a lot of bucks if he sold it. But he said that he never sold one of them. He wanted to keep it for his own collections,"

"Hey, don't start bragging yourself again. You started to look like a douche when you do that," Yoosung hissed

"Well, indeed, I _am_ that handsome!" Zen said, smiling

Eun Ha smiled and agreed to Zen's statement.

A moment later, Haejung came and brought their kebab. A nice smell of perfectly cooked lamb spread under their nose. Eun Ha didn't really fancy lamb. She got sick when she smelt the smell of the lamb. But she wanted to try it because of Zen.

"Please eat as much as you like. I added more only for you," Haejung said

"Thank you," Eun Ha said, a bit concern to be added

Haejung sat beside Yoosung when Eun Ha tried the lamb. By the look in his facial expression, a bit stern and wrinkled brows, Haejung anticipated Eun Ha's reaction after eating his cooking. And turned out, it was pretty good. It was not too hard to chew and she didn't get sick. Haejung must have a very nice skill of cooking the meat.

"It was so good!" Eun Ha said in delight

By the time she said that, Yoosung had already finished eating 3 skewers of kebab. He must have liked it too.

"Thank you!" Haejung exclaimed

"I know that you will like it too, babe," Zen said

Eun Ha felt her face reddened again. She felt her blood boiled inside her brain, like larva that was ready to burst out through the top of her head.

She grabbed her ice lemon tea and sipped it silently. She didn't want anyone notice she had a drastic change of color in her face. Zen called her 'babe' again! She could never get accustomed to it.

"Ah, I know! Jung, do you want to come to our next party? The date is not set yet, but I'm just wondering if you want to come," Zen said, placing down his second skewer

"Really? Would there be another party? I thought you would never make a party again after Rika's death," Haejung exclaimed

"We thought so too, but we have a new coordinator now," Yoosung said, jerking his chin toward Eun Ha's direction, smiling, "So we might throw another party again,"

"Eun Ha, Haejung is a wonderful guy. He uses the profit of his restaurant to help kids who've ran away from home~ give them food, let them study," Zen stated

"Aish, it's nothing~" Haejung said, "After all, it was because of RFA's party that my business grows big like this!"

"Wow, it's really a nice thing to do of you.. You're so great!" she exclaimed, "Yes, you should definitely come!" Eun Ha said

"Okay, just tell me when the party would be held, I'll make sure to come!" Haejung said, smiling

"Great! Now we have 3 guests then. I hope V tell us when the party will be held soon," Eun Ha said, clapping both of her hands once

"Yeah, I hope so too," Yoosung said

After a while, a bunch of people came inside the restaurant. Haejung asked for a permission to leave, and he was back in serving the customers. Haejung was indeed a hard worker. He always treated his customers with care and kindness. Glad she could meet someone like him.

"Zen, you have such a nice friend," Eun Ha said, turning her face from Haejung and once again admiring Zen's flawless face beside her

"Yes, he is very nice," Zen said, smiling earnestly

"How did you meet him?" Eun Ha asked

"He.." Zen said, clearing his throat, "Hmm.. The first time we met, he tried to steal foods from the convenience store I worked at,"

"Really? I don't think I've heard this story," Yoosung said, gobbled his seventh skewer

"I guess I haven't told you then," Zen said, "He was in a rough condition, same with me. But he was worse. I had a job while he had none,"

"So, what happened then? Do you report him or something?" Eun Ha asked

"No, I have no heart to do so. I gave him the food. I paid for it. No matter how poor I was, at least I had a job, even though it was only a cashier in convenience store," Zen said

Eun Ha took her second lamb skewer, and her memories went back to her state, four years ago. She remembered how she was also helped by Zen at the convenience store, though the case was she was not stealing, instead, her money magically disappeared from her purse. It was not good years for Eun Ha. The struggle was real. How she maintained to stay healthy despite the lack of vitamins, it was so hard. But she was not giving up. She started searching for a job since then. And she was asked to be a tutor for kids from elementary school until high school. Thanks to that, she survived until now.

"That was so nice," Eun Ha said

"Well, that was so different with me. I have this experience with the cashier once," Yoosung said, grabbing his ninth skewer. Eun Ha was stunned at how little time he needed to eat up the entire skewers.

"What experience?" Eun Ha asked

"If Zen paid for the food that Haejung tried to steal, I had to bribe the cashier guy to get me Honey Buddha Chips," Yoosung replied

"Oh my, why do you need to bribe him?" Eun Ha chuckled

"It was so rare! I need to pay extra if I want to get it," Yoosung said, "And I am saving it. I don't want to spend it all at once. I've been eating from one bag for two weeks.. I'm still saving it now,"

"Dude," Zen cringed, "Just eat them properly,"

"Yeah, doesn't it get rot or something?" Eun Ha giggled

"Nah, I put it in a fridge. It should be save," Yoosung said non chalantly

"Yoosung," Zen muttered, "Please eat proper meals,"

"Yeah," Eun Ha said, "I heard a lot of guys living alone love to cook~"

"Oh, I actually love to cook! Proper meals help me get through the day properly. But when I start LOLOL, I can't take my eyes off the monitor. So I don't have any choice but to just do with snacks!" Yoosung retorted

Zen shook his head, "If you keep eating like that, you won't get taller,"

"I'm 170 cm, you know. And I grew 2 cm from last year! I'm still growing!" Yoosung snapped

"I bet you'll grow more if you eat better," Zen said

"Nah, I'm in my twenties now. And!" Yoosung said, getting worked up at sudden, "Do you even deserve to say something like that? All you consume is water and alcohol, and you're still tall,"

"I guess you shouldn't be the one who nag, Zen," Eun Ha said, giggling

"Haha.. I'm caught. Still, I'm healthy, muscular, tall, and.. good looking.. Well, I'm like a sculpture I suppose," Zen said, bragging himself

"God, how did you manage to talk about that now?" Yoosung sighed

"God made a mistake when creating me, so I was already more than perfect by middle school. I was tallest in my class since then. If I grow any taller, it would go against the law of nature," Zen bragged

"Don't give me advice when all you eat is alcohol and water. Show me first that you eat proper meal~" Yoosung said

"No need to since I'm an adult!" Zen said

"And what does that have anything to do by being an adult?" Eun Ha asked, chuckled

"Well, I've been working out for a long time, to keep a perfect body like this,"

"I'm working out too!" Yoosung said

"Really? I warm up on the treadmill and start weight training. What kind of work out do you do?" Zen asked

"I exercise my fingers!" Yoosung said

Eun Ha laughed so hard, " _How could exercise fingers called a work out?"_

"You call that exercise?" Zen cringed

"Don't be so harsh on Yoosung.. He'll take care of himself, haha" Eun Ha said, giggling

"Yeah! Exercising fingers is working out too! Playing LOLOL required a healthy fingers and a brilliant mind!"

"Yeah, yeah~ Whatever you say.." Zen said

"Exercising fingers.. How come that I suddenly remembering Seven, haha" Eun Ha said

Somehow, exercising fingers made Eun Ha remembered about the phone call they did that afternoon. Seven might work out with his fingers too for his job as a hacker. She guessed that Seven might still be in his house, trying so hard to catch the Unknown guy in his computers.

"Well, speaking of Seven.. When do you think we'll know the party date? Seven just says he doesn't know until V tells him," Yoosung said

"V will set the date when he thinks it's best. You don't have to worry so much," Zen said

"Hmm, am I the only one getting worried? I have no idea what V is thinking," Yoosung said

"He said that he needed time to think," Eun Ha said

"Yeah, you just have to trust him," Zen added

"I feel like everyone trusts him too much.." Yoosung sulked

"But, is V really trustworthy?" Eun Ha asked

"Yes, he is. Look how great he was when he saved me from that accident," Zen said

"That was a long time ago~ To be honest, ever since Rika left, V's changed," Yoosung said

"I don't think he has. Just have a little faith in V. He always keeps his words," Zen said

Yoosung didn't say anything. He gulped the ice tea until the last drop.

"Hmm, V and Seven.. How long did they know each other?" Eun Ha asked at sudden

Eun Ha waited for the answer, but Zen and Yoosung seemed to think really hard for that question. They seemed like they didn't know the answer either.

"I… don't know.. I never asked about it before," Zen said, "You were with RFA from the beginning, you should know better than me," he said to Yoosung

"I don't know either. Rika and V didn't tell me. We were just introduced to each other casually. When Rika dated V for the first time, I was introduced to him directly. And then I was introduced to Jumin and Seven not long after that. Then Rika suggested creating RFA 4 years ago. And consist of 5 members, Rika, V, Jumin, Seven and me," Yoosung said

"Then I joined around 3 years ago. Jaehee was the last member to join us," Zen said

"So, you never asked about it to Seven then?" Eun Ha again asked

"Ah, I remember. I asked him once, but as usual, he answered it with the same words. He said it was a secret. If I knew about that, I would be dead or worse," Yoosung said

"Really? What could be worse than death?" Eun Ha asked

"I'm going bald and fat. That's worse than death for me," Zen answered, smirking

"Hey, do you need to say that now?" Yoosung cringed

Eun Ha giggled so hard toward Zen's reaction. He was indeed had a disease of narcissist, that having an un-attractive appearance could be worse than death.

But Eun Ha was so suspicious about V and Seven. Why did they have to keep everything a secret? What kind of past did they have? Seven and V seemed like a nice person seen from their profile picture. Seven was a joker but he told Eun Ha not to get too close to him. And V was like a lone wolf. Traveled alone to the other half of the world. Living a solitude life. Both of them were so hard to understand. Like trying to grasp a smoke with bare hand.


	9. Chapter 9

_7 years ago.._

 _The sun shone brightly that afternoon. Not considering the circumstances, the sun kept emitting its light to all corner of the world. The leaves seemed reluctant to dedicate their dancing to the front of the world. The wind was also unwilling to whisper a word to surrounding. And the water in the ground romp to the sky above to become the first cloud. And almost no one was passing through the arid._

 _But a red headed boy was seen amidst the heat. He was carrying lots of plastic bags; groceries and a few bottles of soju sticking out among other things he brought. It was strange indeed for a boy like him buying alcohol on a heat like that._

 _A sweat dropped from his forehead into his eyes. He blinked once. It was a bit sore. He put down those plastic bags and lifted his hand to his eyes; wiping out his sweat. At least he could ease his sore for a bit._

 _His skin was burning, and his T-shirt had long drenched of his sweat. Lifting back the plastic bags, he sighed once. He continued walking, until he reached a church. There were a lot of people there. Maybe there was a ceremony or something. He had no religion, so he never visited the church. He meant to pass it by without seeing clearly what's inside. But suddenly, a voice rang toward him. It was a young girl, maybe a few years older than him._

 _He turned his head toward the source of this voice. It was coming from inside the church. A young girl was running lightly toward him. Her long blonde hair was glowing under the ray of sun. Her smile never faded from her beautiful face, like it was carved by the best sculptor in the world. Somehow, all bad things that occurred in his life vanished, replaced by a warm feeling that he got after seeing her beautiful smile._

" _Hi!" the girl said_

 _That boy only nodded to answer her._

" _Where are you going?" she asked_

" _Home,"_

 _That girl drifted her eyes to the plastic bags he carried. She frowned when her eyes met unusual items that didn't suppose to be there, the bottles of soju. The boy knew, she would probably question him about those sojus soon enough. How a young fellow like himself able to buy the soju from the first place, or who ordered him buying all those things.. But the young girl lifted her head again and smiled at him._

" _Well, I've seen you walking from afar. You seem so tired," she uttered, lifting her eyes from the plastic bags into the boy's forehead, "Oh my, look at your sweat, you must be suffering from the heat," she said, wiping his sweat in his forehead with her bare hand, "Come, I'll get you sweet ice lemon tea. We're having an open house in this church,"_

 _That boy didn't say a word. He really wanted to go inside, but he didn't want to make his mother waited too long at home. He never went home late before, so he didn't know what she would react if he wandered off for a bit longer than usual. Beating him? Or perhaps, starving him? Well, that was not a big deal. He got used to it. Still, he prefered not to get punished. Not to mention he didn't want to reject the girl's offer. And one more reason, probably the number one reason, his throat longed to taste a bit of sweet ice lemon tea the girl mentioned before. Maybe, it was okay for him not to go home directly. Yeah, his mother probably sleeping at home, so she might not know if he was a bit late._

" _Okay," the boy said, following the girl's trail from behind_

 _It was full of people in the church. Everyone was laughing together. All of them seemed like the happiest people that he had ever seen. Being 24 hours per seven days back and forth between his house and grocery stores without meeting other people seemed to make him didn't understand how to react to society. He felt like he turned into robot among human. He kept his mouth shut and make sure not to lose sight of the girl._

" _Here, drink it, you'll feel fresh at instant," she said, smiling as she gave him a glass of ice lemon tea_

 _That yellow-browned drink looked so fresh with those ices. And it was very rare for him to drink something nice like this. It was already a luxury for him if he could drink mineral water in his home. He was used to drink from tap water because sometimes his mother didn't give him anything to drink or eat. He didn't know whether it was good for his body or not, but he had no other choice if he wanted to stay alive._

 _Once he heard something that sounded like news about people who had an eating disorder. The news said that people could live without eating food for a few days and only live depend on drinking water. It was true though. He was barely alive. Even though he didn't remember when the last time he ate proper food._

" _Thank you," the boy said_

 _He spent the ice lemon tea in a blink of eye. Looked like he was way thirstier than seeming. He wiped his lips and felt freshness spread throughout his whole body after he finished drinking it. He wanted more.. But he was too embarrassed to ask for it._

 _The girl in front of him was giggling when she saw him finishing his glass of lemon tea in a second. She gave him another glass even though he hadn't asked for it._

 _He drank it slowly this time._

" _Rika,"_

 _A young man with a turquoise hair was coming toward them._

" _Ah, V!" the girl who seemed to be called Rika answered_

" _What are you doing here? I thought you were at the backyard," the young man named V said_

" _Ah, I just met a new friend. He looked so tired, so I invited him to have a drink," Rika said_

" _Ah, I see. Hello then, I'm V. What is your name?" V asked, reached out his hand_

 _That red headed boy was reluctant to give his name to a complete stranger. He was afraid that they were not nice people like they seemed to be. His mother said appearance could be deceiving._

" _It's okay. You can tell us your name. We're not going to harm you in any kind," Rika said, smiling_

 _Yeah, they might not be bad people like he thought before. Perhaps, he needed to open up his heart for people who genuinely care for him. Besides, someone who had the most beautiful and warm smile like Rika and V didn't seem to have bad intentions._

" _My name is Saeyoung," the red headed boy with amber eyes said, smiling wanly_

…

Haejung's restaurant was still alive. More and more people coming in and out, both with excitement in their faces. Those delicious lamb skewers Haejung's specially made were emptied, and of course, Yoosung's skewers piled up in front of him, twice the size of both Zen and Eun Ha combined. Eun Ha scratched another note inside her brain; lamb skewer was one of Yoosung's fave food, other than Honey Buddha Chip.

With mind still occupied with things concerning V and Seven, Eun Ha drank the last sip of her ice lemon tea. And her gaze accidentally fell on her silver watch in her left arm as she placed her glass to the table. She jumped in her seat – Yoosung and Zen were both startled at her sudden move – at the hour her watch stated. It was already 11 pm! She needed to go home as soon as possible.

"What's wrong?" Yoosung asked, looking surprised

"I.. I have to go home now," Eun Ha answered, getting up from her seat and grabbed her black sling bag

It was way too long hour she spent outside the office tel. She couldn't bear being alone inside the elevator again. And the emergency stairs didn't help at all; 14th floor was too high to take the stairs. So she had no other option to use the elevator. She just hoped, she was not alone in the elevator.

"Ah!" Zen exclaimed, "Sorry, we've hold you till this late hour.. Sorry.. Yeah, let's go home now,"

The three of them went to the cashier not long after that; Zen paid for the meal. They greeted their farewell to Haejung afterward, and Eun Ha promised to visit his restaurant again if she got time. They got out from the restaurant not long after that. The strong wind struck them hard. Eun Ha was shivering for a second when the wind struck her thin body. She blamed herself not to wear long jeans or even put on a jacket. Short black shirt and white skirt totally was not the best outfit for the night.

But a moment after that, she felt a long heavy black jacket wrapped her body and fell down until below her knee. She turned to her left side. Zen smiled at her and placed both of his hand at her shoulder.

"Use it. I don't want such a pretty girl like you get cold," Zen said, winking his right eye

Eun Ha stood rooted to the spot. She couldn't really tell whether the moon lit perfectly at the sky or something else; but Zen seemed brighter than he already was. Like there was halo reflected from his face. And his perfect sculpted arches of lips formed the most sensual smile she had ever seen. She couldn't control her heart beat. Both of his hand was still in her shoulder. It was so gentle she had to hold the urge for touching his hand.

"Thank you," Eun Ha muttered after Zen released his touch

His jacket was so big in Eun Ha's body. She lifted her hand to touch the fabric, and her fingers loved the touched. Smell of cigars also, but oddly she found it relaxing. Usually she despise the smell of cigars, she hated it. But she made an exception for Zen's. It was so sweet she could smell it for hours if she were alone at that time. There was a scent of mint in there, added by presumably his cologne. She couldn't really tell what cologne it was but it was so freakingly sweet.

"You're welcome," Zen replied, smiling, "Come on. We'll take you home,"

Eun Ha could only nod as her reply; she was too overwhelmed by the little thing Zen did for her. She formed a faint smile for Zen, and the three of them walked side by side toward the bus shelter.

In a moment, they got on the bus. There were a lot of seats available and they sat on the back. Zen sat beside the window and Eun Ha sat beside him. Yoosung, who was the last one, sat beside Eun Ha.

10 minutes after their depart, Yoosung asked the girl about Rika's office tel. That was when Eun Ha remembered the thing Seven constantly asked her not to tell. _"Rika's office tel's location must remain secret,"_ Seven commanded. Eun Ha told them both they couldn't know where Rika's office tel. So, they need to take their own buses in the next stop. And it was not Zen if he took the suggestion at one time. He insisted that he should take her back safely because it was almost midnight. Yoosung felt the same way. But Eun Ha promised Seven that the location mustn't be revealed. After a long debate, Zen and Yoosung gave up. But to make sure that Eun Ha arrived safely to the office tel, she needed to inform them the moment she arrived on the chat room. She agreed to it.

In the next stop, both of the guys got off the bus because they needed to take a different path. They waved to Eun Ha who was still on the bus.

The bus took off again. Eun Ha placed her fingers at the window where the silhouette of Zen and Yoosung began fading at the corner. Tremendous feeling of longing crept into her heart without the consent from its host. She sulked. Deep down, she wanted Zen accompanied her to the office tel. At least being with her inside the elevator. But she had sealed her promise to V and Seven not to tell other member about the location of office tel. She let out a long sigh. Why did the office tel need to be secret? Nothing seemed suspicious within the office tel.

She shrank to her seat and sullen. That moment, her eyes fell into the black jacket Zen owned that still attached in her body. She rose from her seat and panicked. There was a moment she'd like to make the driver stop the bus from moving further. But as she turned back, Yoosung and Zen were nowhere to be seen. So she plopped herself into her seat once again, pulled out her phone from her sling bag and texted Zen.

Eun Ha : ZEN! Omg, what should I do.. Your jacket…. T_T

She waited for 5 minutes until she got her replied.

ZEN : It's okay lol,, I guess we'll have to meet again then ^^

Eun Ha : Sorry T_T;; I'll wash it clean for you!

ZEN : You don't need to though lol.. Well, text me again when you reached home, OK?

Eun Ha : Okay, thank you ^^

ZEN : Pleasure to help you, my lady ^^

She transfixed her gaze toward her phone screen. Once again, her heart was racing uncontrollably. The part when he uttered ' _we'll have to meet again'_ had been ringing in her head over and over again. She grinned ear to ear at the sentence, and her stomach became weird. Like there were uncountable butterflies flapping their wings, ready to come out from her body. She obviously waited for the day they _'meet again'_. Well, who couldn't be? Being asked by one of a famous actor, and on top of it, the most beautiful looking man on planet earth! She would never miss it for anything.

She put her head on the window and her eyes started to feel heavier by the second. A grin still lingered in her face as a yawn fell from her mouth. She fell asleep in no time.

The bus was strolling for more than an hour when Eun Ha's phone vibrated in her pocket. She woke up at sudden and straightened her back. Feeling dizzy for about 5 miliseconds, she stroked her own head and pulled out her phone.

It was from Seven.

But before she could swipe the green button, the bus shelter she was headed for was seen from the window. She jumped from her seat and yelled at the driver to stop the bus. She almost missed it. It was all thanks to Seven's phone call, she could get off in time. She stepped out, and the night wind mercilessly attacked her once again, sending shiver through her spine.

She was alone at the bus shelter, as expected. The clock in her lockscreen showed it was 20 minutes after 12 in the morning. Very early morning. Well, midnight, actually. No time to lose, she fastened her step into the lobby of Rika's office tel and swiped the green button in between.

"Hey!" Seven shouted – but not that loud – as she placed her smartphone to her right ear.

"Hey! I'm already in front of the office tel, Seven," Eun Ha answered, climbing the stairs that led to the building

She didn't need to know what Seven would say next. He might be worried because Eun Ha hadn't gone home yet.

"It was soo late Miss. Aren't you afraid of burglars or criminals lurking around you?" Seven asked steadily, but Eun Ha could sense a bit of concern in the way he spoke

"Sorry, but we chat so much that we lost track of time," Eun Ha said, giggling

"Well, it's okay then if you've arrived. Be careful, okay, bye.."

"WAIT! Seven…." Eun Ha yelled

Her heart stopped.

"Yes?"

" _Thank God he did not hung up yet,"_ Eun Ha thought

"Can we talk on the phone like this until I reached the office tel?" Eun Ha asked

She reached the building. Nobody seemed to be in the lobby. She didn't know where the receptionist might be, but no one guarded the desk as she spoke. The lobby was lit perfectly, yet she felt uneasy nonetheless.

"Why?"

"I just… need to know that there was someone there who talks to me. I.. didn't really like elevator.." Eun Ha said, her lower lip slightly cowering

No words coming out from the other side of her phone. She cursed herself. She wasn't supposed to blatantly confess her weakness to Seven. She didn't want to sound so wimpy or weird in front of him. But her fear won her over. She really needed someone to talk with at that precise hour.

"Okay~" he hummed as an answer

"Thanks, God Seven!" Eun Ha sighed in relief

She pressed the Up button on the cold marble wall. She noticed that the elevator was on 17th floor.

"So~ where did you go until this late?" Seven asked

"We went to Haejung's place, Zen's friend. Do you know him?" Eun Ha asked

"Yes I know him. But I never go to his place. He owns a kebab restaurant, right?" Seven asked

"Yes,"

The elevator reached her floor. Alas, she was alone. Even though she was with Seven, it was still uncomfortable for her.

She took a long breath and finally stepped on the elevator. She clicked the 14th floor button and closed her eyes afterward. She clenched her left fist, while her right hand was still on her phone.

"Seven?"

There was no answer.

"Seven!"

She shouted a bit loud now. She started to have a panic attack.

"LUCIEL!"

Eun Ha said his real name at last. She wanted to know whether the phone call was still connected or not. Remembering that she was in the elevator, the connection might be jammed. Suddenly, when she thought of lowering her hand, Seven answered her at last.

"Whooah.. Please, pity my ear~~ Sorry, got worked earlier~" Seven said, "But, finally you mentioned my real name?"

"Sorry, I.. I thought there was something wrong with the connection.. But I received a phone call once in the elevator, so it might not be jammed.. Maybe.. But I don't know.." Eun Ha muttered shakily

"Eun Ha, are you okay?" Seven asked

"Yeah, it was usual for me. No need to worry," Eun Ha said, trying to form a smile, but failed

"Are you scared using elevator?" Seven asked

She inhaled deeply once again, one of the methods she created to muddle through her claustrophobic attack.

"Yeah.. Though I don't know why.." Eun Ha answered

There was pause for a few second. Eun Ha leaned back at the cold mirror wall behind her, and shut her eyes.

"I'm sorry.." Seven said, Eun Ha heard slightly solemn in his voice, "You are forced to live in an office tel like that and feel uncomfortable because of it. Sorry,"

"Hey, I'm the first one who agreed to it. No need to feel like that. And I'm not the type to go out regularly. I'm a translator, so I could work inside the office tel. Besides, it was just a silly thing of me. Getting scared out of nothing.. Such a weird girl, huh?" Eun Ha asked

"No, you are not.. But.. what would you do? You have no other option beside taking that elevator everyday.."

"Well, it's my problem. I just.. need to hear something while I was in elevator. Thank God you're calling me," Eun Ha said, "So, what you said yesterday in the chat room was right then?"

"What did I say?" Seven asked

"You said that there was a 0,0000000001% that you might appear if I called your name. So, maybe I called your name in a sleep and magically you appeared!" Eun Ha said tried to cheer up the situation

"Well, what did I say? That enchantment worked out very well then," Seven said, giggling

"Yes, you are very correct, God Seven!" Eun Ha replied, laughed nervously

He went silent once again. Eun Ha squeezed the metal grip on the elevator wall in order not to fall. Her legs almost gave up. She cursed in silence, complaining why the elevator seemed to have slowed down floor after floor.

"Anyway, did you have fun at the restaurant?" Seven asked after a while

"Yeah! We were having fun. But the conversation mostly about V and when the party would be held," Eun Ha answered, glad at the change of the topic, "Do you know when the party would be held?"

"No, I don't. V hasn't told us yet. Please wait for a bit more," Seven muttered

"Okay.." Eun Ha said

By the time she finished talking, the elevator arrived in 14th floor. She scrambled out as soon as the doors slid open and exhaled deeply when she stepped off the elevator. She leaned on the wall beside the elevator for a while, feeling at ease at the stable floor she stood on, before she waved to the CCTV.

"Hey, I saw you.. But whose jacket did you wear now?" Seven asked

"Zen. He gave it to me. It was a bit cold here outside," Eun Ha said, "Anyway, I'll go inside the office tel then? Thank you so much for keeping me accompany, Seven,"

"Don't worry~ It's been a privilege to serve you m'lady~" Seven cooed, "Bye Eun Ha,"

Eun Ha waved to the CCTV, "Bye, my knight,"

She put her phone in her pocket and pressed the password to get inside the office tel. After there was a click sound, she went inside the office tel, put down her bag and carefully put Zen's jacket in the hanger. She pulled out her phone again to send a message. She promised to tell Yoosung and Zen when she reached the office tel.

Eun Ha has entered the chat room

Eun Ha : Hey, I'm home. I'm safe ^^

ZEN : Thank God!

ZEN : Did you just get in there?

Eun Ha : Yes..

Han Jumin has entered the chat room.

Han Jumin : A lady must not get home this late at night.

Han Jumin : Where have you been?

Eun Ha : I visited Zen's friend kebab place.

Han Jumin : Is that so? Hmm, never taste kebab before.

ZEN : Well, trust fund kid! You don't need to eat commoner food like this. lol

Han Jumin : Whatever..

Eun Ha : Sorry.. I need to go now.. I'm tired.. ^^

ZEN : Okay babe~ get some rest..

ZEN inserted a wink emoji

Han Jumin : Bye

Eun Ha : Good night ^^

Eun Ha has left the chat room.

Eun Ha went to the bathroom and took a bath. No need a long time. She went out as fast as lightning and prepared to go to sleep.

She opened up her phone again before she fell asleep and sent a message to Zen.

Eun Ha : Thank you for today ^^

No answer. Maybe he was sleep already. She closed her eyes at last, and hoped that she could meet Zen in her dreams. She hoped…

…

The 21 years old hacker, Seven, kept his gaze into the CCTV feed at the right corner of his desk. He watched Eun Ha going out from the elevator and leaned on the wall. She almost stumbled due to her eagerness to get out from the elevator as soon as possible.

Alas, the resolution in CCTV was not good enough. He couldn't take a better look of Eun Ha's facial expression, whether she was completely scared or just a bit scared. But her gestures explained it all.

" _What is wrong with you, Eun Ha?"_ Seven thought helplessly

Seven turned his head into the other CCTV feed at his left side. It showed a glance of Eun Ha walking into the lobby and stopping for a while. Her head looked into the reception desk, only to find no one guarded it. Perhaps it was because no one seemed to present at the lobby, she decided to fasten her step into the elevator.

Seven bit his lower lip as he continued watching Eun Ha inside the elevator. She seemed terrified inside it. He could see how tight she gripped on the metal grip as her fist whitened. Shame on him, he couldn't be there to protect her. He was chained onto his desk. Not to mention, Vanderwood, his dear handler came back to his fotress again to check on him.

" _Does she suffer claustrophobic?"_ Seven pondered, _"Why? What started it?"_

Seven pondered all the reason that might trigger the claustrophobic Eun Ha suffered. Whether she was forcefully trapped inside a small room by somehow her evil mother, like he used to be when he was a child. Or because of pranks she encountered at her school, being locked inside school locker.. All didn't make any sense, for who could ever make the sweetest girl like Eun Ha feared of closed space. But once again, Seven needed rememberance that he just knew her merely for two days. He didn't even have a chance to ask more personally about Eun Ha other than she told them herself – both graduated and worked as an assistant lecturer in Yonsei, and a translator.

Eun Ha should probably be sleeping by now – it had been an hour after Eun Ha went inside Rika's office tel – but Seven kept on re-watching every CCTV feed that had Eun Ha in it. He couldn't deny his face was gushing red at the sight of Eun Ha that night. Luckily both Seven and Eun Ha were separated by space that he didn't need to reason her why his face turned red.

As a matter of fact, he wanted to ask Eun Ha about the black jacket she wore, as it wasn't likely hers based on how big it was in her body. But he had to hold the urge. He wouldn't possibly state to Eun Ha he kept his eyes toward her ever since she entered the lobby. What if she thought Seven as a freak? That was the last thing he wished for from her. And turned out it was Zen's. Seven chuckled lightly. Perhaps his imagination about Eun Ha ended up in marriage with one of RFA members was not a mere fantasy. Zen.. Zen had everything.. Good career, good personality, and his statuesque physical he always bragged about.. And he grew quite fond of Eun Ha already, by the excitement Zen showed whenever both of them chatted in the chat room. There was no way Eun Ha turned her face away from perfect male-beauty like Zen toward alienated deep sea fish like him.. Not.. in a thousand years.. Although his conscience wished otherwise.


	10. Chapter 10

Han Jumin's daily life was often scheduled perfectly. He couldn't make it through the day if there hadn't been a decent agenda about what he was supposed to do the entire day. From the moment he opened his eyes, he always do the same routine. Getting ready to work, feeding Elizabeth the 3rd, waiting for Driver Kim, and work all day to the night. In short, there wouldn't likely be any surprises in his entire life.

Having born as a rich kid in the most expensive neighborhood and selected as the heir of the gigantic company of C&R International without any other life choice, made him not aware of his surroundings. True, he was taught etiquettes and norm since he was a kid, and he understood how to make a good impression to the clients of his company, which always led to make them signed contracts that produced effing benefits for his company. But he was made sure by Zen that he knew nothing about the meaning of life.

" _Huh, like he knew anything about the beauty of Elizabeth the 3_ _rd_ _,"_ Jumin thought, _"Nobody could say anything about the meaning of life if they failed to see the most joyous thing of being alive. What a waste of life that Zen didn't understand the beauty of cat. Moreover at the party 2 years ago when I brought Elizabeth the 3_ _rd_ _, everyone who attended the party enjoyed how elegant and sophisticated Elizabeth the 3_ _rd_ _could be. Everyone, except that narcissist who was always lurking in the corner sneezing and coughing unstoppably, and obviously made every guest plagued by his allergic reaction,"_

A picture of Elizabeth the 3rd framed by gilded frame was put nicely in the right corner of his desk. Her clear blue eyes, her perfectly white fur.. So enchanting.. That picture of Elizabeth the 3rd always succeed making Jumin's fatigue vanish into thin air every time he peered sideways out of the corner of his eyes.

That morning was like any other morning for Han Jumin. He sat behind his desk, accompanied by pile of documents that needed to be signed. He checked those documents one by one. He never tolerated any kind of mistake. One other thing, he hated typo.

" _How come there's typo in documents that need my signature,"_

He said that to anyone who made mistake. Others might not care too much like him, but he couldn't simply ignore it. He wanted everything to be perfect.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. He didn't need to look up to see who was knocking. It must be Assistant Kang. And with eyes still focused on the documents, he let her in.

"Come in," Jumin said, in his deep voice

"Mr. Han," Jaehee said

She walked slowly toward Jumin's desk.

"There's an invitation for you. It's a party for tonight," Jaehee said, giving him the invitation card

"Party?" Jumin said, lifted his brows, reading the invitation card his assistant gave him

"Yes, apparently it was from Versalis S.p.A,. They were in South Korea to expand cooperation and strengthen their presence within Asian Market. It seems like Chairman Han wanted you to deal with them. As you know, Versalis is not a mere company. It is the Italian leading chemical producer and one of the main players on the international chemical scene. Plus it is a sole shareholder company. It is very good for our company if we could sign contract with them. We could expand our wings to Italian territory and get inside our own government as well. This agreement is really indispensable for us," Jaehee said

"Hmm, when I thought I could go home early tonight," Jumin sighed, "What time is the party held?"

"It's 8 pm. And Chairman Han wanted you to come with Choi Sarah," Jaehee said

Jumin raised one eyebrow when he heard that name.

"Who is that?"

"She's Chairman Han's new girlfriend's student if I'm not mistaken," Jaehee said

"Can't I come alone?" Jumin asked, coldly

He hated when his father interfered with the way he run the company. Let alone, interfered with his relationship issue.

"No, I guess Chairman Han insists that you have to attend this party with a partner. And he wanted you to go with Choi Sarah,"

"No. I don't want to go there if that is the case," Jumin said, back struggling with the documents in front of him

"Mr. Han, please. You really need to come. It's for our company's sake," Jaehee said, begging

Han Jumin was a stubborn child. He would not budge if he had made up his mind.

"No. It was only my father's way to fix me up with those women. I don't want to fall for his tricks," Jumin said

"But it's Versalis! You are to meet up with Daniele Ferrari, the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Versalis S.p.A. He is a great person for you to miss. And clearly Chairman Han wouldn't be pleased if he knew you wouldn't come to this party tonight," Jaehee insisted

Jaehee was very persistent toward his boss sometime, especially when he neglected his main job only to play with his beloved cat. Jumin thought of refusing this offer once again. But he seemed to think for a while. Somehow, he thought of a way to come to the party and to avoid his father's coercion.

"Okay, I'll come to the party. But I will be accompanied by the woman I chose myself," Jumin said, gave a flashed smile

Jaehee looked confused at her boss's smirking lips.

" _The woman he chose himself? He wasn't thinking of bringing Elizabeth the 3_ _rd_ _right?"_ Jaehee thought

…

Eun Ha was working on her translating job that morning, accompanied by a nice cup of cappuccino coffee. Sometimes, she felt her eyes getting heavier to stay opened due to the cool air of the breeze from balcony. That was the reason why she needed a cup of coffee that morning, to let her stay awake.

" _What a nice perfect pair,"_ she thought

Sometimes, she loved seeing the view from the balcony. She felt like she was so far from the life beneath her. It was like she could finally have an escape route from the world, away from the pollution and some obnoxious people that she might encounter in every corner of the street. That was why being inside Rika's office tel could calm her down although she had to suppress her fear for being in the elevator every time she stepped out from this place.

Never occurred in her mind that she would be living in such a high place like that, as she couldn't handle going inside of the elevator to reach the place. Yet she had no other choice. Seven said that it was necessary for her to stay in Rika's office tel if she carried on Rika's job as party coordinator. Her phone linked into computer inside the office tel, hence she couldn't stay away from the office tel for more than a day. She believed in Seven. He was the one who invented RFA Messenger application after all.

She took another sip of the coffee and back typing again on her laptop. She fixed her red-frame glasses once in a while, then back again typing. She continued doing that for a while. Without her knowledge, an hour had passed and she had emptied her cup of coffee. Time flew so fast indeed when she worked.

She hadn't finished her job, but her eyes were getting heavier any minute passed. That was a sign for her to make another cup of coffee. And by the time she stood up to make another cup of coffee, a chat room was opened. It was from her favorite hacker. She smiled before she joined Seven logged into the app.

707 : Aaaarrrrrrrggghh

707 : When will I be free…

Eun Ha has entered the chat room

Eun Ha : Cheer up Seven O Seven! Sevenny! Sevv! Lovely Seven!

She wanted to cheer Seven up. He might be stress dealing with so many things.. The hacker villain for example.

707 : Lo-lovely…?

707 inserted happy emoji

707 : Thank you sweetie!

Frozen, Eun Ha didn't blink for more than 5 seconds at the sentence. She was taken by surprise that Seven called her sweetie in the chat room. He never showed his affection like this, unlike Zen.

707 : Seriously, I have so much work these days.

707 : TOO MUCH!

707 : Just feels like air = work right now…

707 : I wanna get rid of my stress…

707 : I wanna mess with someone…..!

Han Jumin has entered the chat room

Speak of the devil! How could Jumin logged into the chat room exactly when Seven searched someone to prey on. It was more than a mere coincidence. It was as if the universe conspired with Seven to give a prank for the next CEO-in-line. She giggled. Eun Ha couldn't help joining forces with Seven.

Eun Ha : Someone's here.

Han Jumin : ?

707 : Jumin!

707 : I waited for you!

707 : I want to know something meow.

Han Jumin : What is it?

707 : So.. you know…

Han Jumin : Oh.

Han Jumin : You just said, "I want to mess with someone" right before I came.

Han Jumin : Are you trying to mess with me?

Eun Ha : Nah, we were just joking around.

707 : Yeah!

707 : I was just reminded of something,

707 : after Yoosung talked about being a forever-alone!

707 : Jumin!

707 : Do you like girls? or not?!

Han Jumin : Which girl?

Han Jumin : Please make it clear who you are referring to.

707 : Just girls in general~!

Han Jumin : I will not answer your ambiguous question.

Eun Ha : Evading the question?

707 : I think I've heard somewhere that those who are guilty of something

707 : always

707 : evade the question first…

707 : Jumin..

707 : Are you by any chance

707 : androgynous?

Han Jumin : I think that's biologically impossible.

707 : Don't tell me..

707 : That you've

707 : **Never dated anyone before?**

Han Jumin : Do you want me to answer that crude question?

Eun Ha : No… No way!

707 : OMG!

707 : lolol

707 : haha

707 : heehee

707 : hehehe

707 : hohoho

707 : Uhm

707 : No response?

707 : Jumin!

707 : JUJU!

707 : Boring.

Seven inserted depressed emoji.

707 : I didn't even sleep last night trying to find out who that Unknown guy is~!

707 : Plz tell me! Pretty plz with cherry on top! _

Han Jumin : If I must answer that question,

Han Jumin : I'd like to refrain from getting involved with women, for personal reasons.

707 : Oh I see.

Eun Ha : So, you are a forever-alone or not?

Han Jumin : How persistent.

707 : You didn't say yes,

707 : But you didn't deny it either.

Eun Ha : I'm only curious, haha.

707 : I think everyone's curious?!

707 : Do I finally

707 : have a big scoop?!

707 : Hmm…

707 : Don't tell me…!

707 : ZEN! YOOSUNG!

707 : JUMIN MIGHT BE FOREVER ALONE! GAAAAHHHH, I WANNA KNOW THE TRUTH!

707 : **I heard that forever-alones can shoot fireballs with their hands.**

707 : **Is that true?**

Han Jumin : I don't carry around a lighter, so it's impossible to produce a fireball.

707 : **No way.**

707 : **Was the rumor that Han Jumin is gay real?**

There was silence for quite some time. No one dared to speak first. Eun Ha kept her phone steady at her arm, yet she didn't know what she should say to ease the awkwardness. She didn't really know Jumin that well.

Eun Ha : Seven.. I don't think he's gay ^^;;

She stopped joining forces with Seven at last. Being hated by Jumin wasn't something she wished for. Let alone Eun Ha well remembered Jumin didn't really accept Eun Ha joined RFA at the first place. This prank could be her doom for her very existence in RFA.

707 : U sure about that!?

707 : if you look around him, I think the rumors make sense!

Han Jumin : Ridiculous that you'd waste energy on asking these useless questions.

Han Jumin : Why don't you use that time to sleep?

Han Jumin : Luciel, I think you are overly hyper right now.

707 : Am I? T_T

707 : Guess I had too much Ph. D Pepper

707 : **On a major sugar rush and high on caffeineeeeeeee**

707 : **My heart is racing!**

Han Jumin : I suggest you drink a lot of water.

Eun Ha : Yes, you need to live your life properly Seven.. Don't get sick.. T_T

707 : T_T

707 : Should I?

Eun Ha : Yes.. ^^

707 : Huum~ So cute for you concern about my health! _

Seven inserted love love emoji

Eun Ha : You're my good friend, Seven.. Both of you are my friend.. ^^

Han Jumin : Me?

Eun Ha : Yes ^^

Han Jumin : Hmm.. Strange.. It is the second time I heard someone said that to me.

707 : I'm your friend tooooooooooo! Gaaaaahhh,, I'm so hurt that you said that Juju! I love youuuu! I love Elly tooooooooooo!

Han Jumin : A cat abuser like you can never love properly.

707 : Meaniiee mean cat mom Jumiiiiiin!

Han Jumin : Don't call me that.

Han Jumin : Ah, anyway. I came here to ask Eun Ha a favor.

Eun Ha : My favor?

Han Jumin : Yes. But I should ask you something before. Are you free tonight?

707 : Whuttzzzz? What are you talking about? Are you asking Eun Ha for a date or something?!

Han Jumin : I want to ask you to go to a party with me. That is only if you have no other appointment for tonight.

Eun Ha gasped. Being asked to a party so suddenly like that was a bit too much for Eun Ha. Especially, she had never gone to a party before. She was sure that she had mentioned it in the chat room before. And considering someone like Jumin was invited, that party must be pretty big and consist of other important people as well. Eun Ha didn't understand why Jumin ask her to attend the party with him.

Eun Ha : Well, I don't particularly have anything to do tonight. But, what kind of party is it?

Han Jumin : It's just a welcoming party. I want you to be my partner.

Eun Ha : But, I've never gone to a party before. Are you sure you're asking me to go with you? Moreover, you haven't met me before.. ^^;;

707 : Yeah! She hasn't even met you yet. Why don't you just go alone?

Han Jumin : I have my own reason.

Eun Ha was not sure how to react. In one side, she wanted to say yes. She wanted to meet Jumin as well, like the others. But she was a bit afraid to go to a place where famous and important people gathered. She was no one compared to Jumin. And why didn't he just go alone to the party like Seven suggested? And what did he mean by saying he had his own reason?

All these questions made Eun Ha's curiosity getting bigger. And Eun Ha knew for sure. If she refused his offer, she might regret it for the rest of her life. So, there was no other answer that would suit for his demand other than...

Eun Ha : Yeah, okay. ^^


	11. Chapter 11

The rehearsal room was almost empty that afternoon. Almost his entire peer had gone for a lunch break, yet the silver haired actor still working on his blocking and singing. Some of his friends had asked Zen whether he wanted to grab a lunch together with them. But he politely refused.

" _Your voice is very nice Zen. Even better than mine! Why don't you take a break for a while?"_

Some people always ask that question to him. And he always answered them with a smile and said, _"I have to do my best on the stage,"_

Long had he dreamt of being a big actor. Yet his way to reach his dream was not easy. Having born in such a conservative family who believed having a stable job was the most important thing rather than achieving a dream was not a good start for him.

" _Acting is not going to give you a stable income when you become an adult! Kids are supposed to study and go to college! Just because you are good looking, it doesn't mean that you will be a successful actor or musician! Everyone needs a connection. Who would help you to be a big star if you have no connection?!"_

Zen would never forget those words, as they were repeatedly uttered by his parents every day. His parents were professor in Sungkyungkwan University in Suwon. So, never crossed in their mind that their youngest descendant would choose the path that was not defined from before he was born; lawyer or doctor for example.

Yes, he had to do his best on the stage. He wanted to prove that he could be a successful person through his acting. He wanted to show them that he could be big without help from anyone, especially from a big corporate shark. He wanted to prove that everything his mother and brother said about him not going to be successful in acting without any help from rich people was wrong. He could be big someday. Yeah, he had to believe that someday his wings could take him far away from home, to Broadway, where every dream could come true.

"Yes, it would be enough," Zen said to himself

He grabbed a bottle of mineral water from his bag and gulped it down until it was half empty.

"Oppa, can you help me to learn this part? I don't really know how to express this kind of feeling,"

A young girl approached him and pointed out the part that she was confused at.

"Oh.. I see.."

It was about the feeling of a woman being alone in a new place, with no family or friends to help her. Zen read the part, and he knew exactly how to act it, as he had that kind of feeling too when he ran away from home when he was in middle school.

"Hmm, first you need to put yourself in her shoe. What would you think first in when you being alone?" Zen asked

"I don't know. What would you think?" the girl asked

"Well, you may get sad for a moment, but don't make it last too long. You have to remember why you chose to be alone from the first place. Being alone is a choice, but being sad for too long is never an option. You've got to know your goal ahead. If you have a clear goal, you can enjoy your life more. At least, you need to act a bit gloomy at the beginning and then you need to show the audiences a moment after that that you've finally know how to conquer the world. One more important thing, keep your eye contact to the audiences. Give them a spark of hope through your eyes. Can you do that?" Zen asked

"Yeah! I'll try to practice my eye contact more now," the girl said, "Okay. I'll better go now. Lunch break is almost over. Are you sure you're not coming down to grab something to eat?"

"Nah, I'll just keep being here. There are a few dancing that I have to master," Zen said

"Whooaah, you've mastered it already!" the girl squealed, "Don't push yourself too hard,"

As usual, Zen responded her compliment by smiling at her.

"Well, I'll go now. Bye oppa," the girl said

"Yup. Be careful," Zen said, smiling

Zen watched the girl disappeared from the room. The girl was 4 years younger than him, the same age when Zen started to be serious in his career as musical actor. It was just like her, he used to ask for some advices too from his seniors because he wanted to be up on stage as fast as he could.

For the starter, he worked at the small theater. He was not paid well in his debut as a musical actor. Nevertheless, he still wanted to practice more. So, sometimes he'd lock the door at the end and stayed the latest in the practice room. And when everyone went home, he would go up stage and pretend that he had a one-man show called Zen the Knight. It was his time for shining. He could sing and dance whatever he wished there. But unfortunately, his boss found out what he was doing and fired him.

After that, he searched for another theater that would hire a rookie actor like him. Of course he kept working at the convenience store at the time being. He needed to make a living after all.

Finally he got it, but in one condition. He needed to adjust his payment if he wanted to join that theater. For the record, his payment at that time was barely enough for a living. It was indeed a difficult time for him. He wanted to act so badly, but there was no decent wages in his passion as an actor. That was when he started to think to end his dream as an actor. He thought of going home as well. Back to his "well-known perfect family". But his ego won over his common sense. He never wanted to go home in defeat and took all of mocking from his family. He didn't want the statement, _"I told you so!"_ got out from their tongue.

Thankfully, he met Rika and V. Their presence was like a gift to him. They literally lifted his spirit and convince him that he was very good on stage. From that moment, he told himself, that he would definitely work harder than before.

Zen put down his bottle of mineral water on the floor. He attempted to get back up and practice once more, but his phone rang loudly, the sign of the incoming call. He grabbed his phone, and read a name on his screen. It was from Eun Ha. Unconsciously, he carved a smile on his face.

"Hello babe!" Zen shouted happily

Eun Ha burst out laughing when she heard his spirited answer.

"Woow, I feel so happy hearing your spirited voice Zen!" Eun Ha squeaked

Zen was laughing as well. The fact that Eun Ha called him first that day was a bit delightful for him.

"Me too!" Zen said, "By the way, why do you call me? Is there something that I can help with?"

"Well, it's just.. You haven't showed up in the chat room. So.. I wonder what you are doing right now.. Maybe.. Hehe" Eun Ha said

Eun Ha's voice was getting off as she spoke. As if she was embarrassed when she said that.

" _So cute,"_ Zen thought

"Hmm, I'm just practicing my dancing now," Zen said, tried so hard not laughing at her cute voice, "Why? Do you miss me?"

"Noooo! It was not like that.. I just.. curious.. that's all.. hehe" Eun Ha said

"Ouch.. so you didn't miss me at all? I'm hurt…." He replied, pretend to be hurt

"Ehehehe.." she nervously chuckled

Then, Eun Ha went silent.

"Hello~ Are you still there?" Zen asked

"Yes. Sorry.." Eun Ha giggled, "I'm sorry I interrupted your practice,"

"No, absolutely not. Actually, I'm on a break now. All of my friends haven't even returned from their lunch break, so it's okay.." Zen said

"Okay.." Eun Ha said, "Ah, Zen. Actually, there's something I want to ask you about,"

"Feel free to ask~ What is it?"

"Maybe because you haven't read the chat, you still don't know this info,"

"What info? Is it about the date of the party?" Zen asked curiously

"No, I still haven't heard anything from V about that," Eun Ha muttered, "Actually, Jumin asked me to go to a party with him tonight. And I want to ask for your opinion about what I should wear. Because I don't…"

Eun Ha hadn't finished her words when Zen suddenly yelled at her.

"WHAT? What do you mean a party with him? Why?" Zen asked furiously

"If you asked me for a reason, I don't know about that either. He just asked me right away,"

"So, did you approve it?" Zen asked

"Yeah.."

"Gaaaahh… Why do you approve it.. You haven't even known him that well. Don't go alone with a man! Especially a wolf like him! He's the worst human being that I've ever known my whole life!" Zen growled

"But, he said that he wanted to make me more familiar with the festive of party. Plus, I haven't met him either. So, maybe it's not a bad thing that I go with him," Eun Ha explained

"That's because you are so pure and innocence, Eun Ha. There is a beast lurking inside every man! Well, thankfully I can control a beast inside of me. But that jerk has never gone out with a girl alone! Especially a girl like you! What if that beast suddenly crawls out and eats you alive in the middle of the night?! No.. NO.. Absolutely not! I can't take it! I have to go with you tonight! If you really have to go with him, I have to go as well!" Zen said, heated up

"Haha.. calm down, lovely Zen," Eun Ha said, flirting

"Lo.. lovely?" Zen flabbergasted, "Hey,, I was pissed off a moment before.. But hearing you call me like that make me chill out.. You are really cute, do you know that?"

Eun Ha laughed again.

"Anyway.. Actually, I don't know whether you could tag along or not. But, don't you have to practice for your musical?" Eun Ha asked

"I'm free tonight, so I could come to that party. Well, maybe I have to call Jumin now. Okay Eun Ha, see you at the party tonight!"

"Wait! Zen!"

"Yes?" Zen asked

"You haven't answered my question before.." Eun Ha pouted

"Hmm?" Zen raised an eyebrow, "Did you ask something?"

Eun Ha chuckled, "Of course! I called you because I want to know what kind of attire I have to wear for the party.. And then you went haywire at the word _party_ with Jumin _,_ "

"Ah.." Zen laughed, "Sorry.. I always erratic at the mention of that jerk's name.. Sorry," he added, "So, what's with the attire?"

"Well.. You know.. I'm not that good at fashion. And since you are an actor.. Maybe you give me tips?"

"Hmm.." he pondered, "You are beautiful as you are, babe," Zen said in serious tone, "But if I have to answer your question. Just wear anything that you comfortable with,"

"Well, I have a likely pretty decent dress. Do you think a white dress would suffice?" Eun Ha asked

"Yeah! I'm sure anything you wear will be splendid! And I'll absolutely be there to witness that!"

There was a chuckle in the other side of his phone. One thing about Zen, he was not an easy person to be convinced. Once he had a goal, he would chase it until he got it. That meant, he would go to that party no matter how.

"Thank you," Eun Ha said sincerely

"Okay, you're welcome. Then.. I'll call that trust fund kid right now. Wait for my info, okay?" Zen asked passionately

"Okay," Eun Ha said

He hung up the phone with Eun Ha and called Jumin right away. He waited Jumin to pick up his call, but no answer.

"Damn it, that jerk!"

Zen didn't give up. He called and called for so many times until Jumin picked up.

"What?" Jumin asked, upset

"Hoy! Do you really need to go with her tonight?!" Zen asked, furiously

"What do you mean?" Jumin asked

"You… asked Eun Ha to go to a party with you," Zen growled

"What a nuisance. You called me just to ask that question?" Jumin asked

"Yeah! Why? Do you have some problem?" Zen snapped

"I was on an important meeting. You interrupted our meeting," Jumin replied nonchalantly

"Well, I'm sorry then. But it's important! I can't let her go alone with you! No matter how many times I think about it, I have to go with you tonight!" Zen insisted

"And why exactly I can't go with her? Are you her brother or a lover perhaps?" Jumin asked boldly

"Well, no.." he blushed, "You know that we just met yesterday," Zen answered awkwardly

"So, there's nothing wrong with me go to a party with her then.." Jumin said flatly

"No! The problem is of course you! I need to be there to take care of Eun Ha from a beast within you!"

"There's nothing but a blood, flesh, and bone inside my body," Jumin said

"It was only an example, you jerk," Zen hissed

"I know. I'm joking,"

"You said that a joke? It was too serious to be a joke!" Zen annoyed, "Well, no matter what I'll be there. Where is that party held in?"

"You are so persistent,"

"That I am!"

"I'll ask Assistant Kang first," Jumin said

"Gahh, can't you at least not rely on Jaehee too much? Just answer my simple question already," Zen said, "I can go to that party right?"

There was a moment of silent. Seemed like Jumin really asked Jaehee about that.

"Well.." Jumin said

Zen listened to his answer.

"No."

He wanted to throw his phone at instant. But he remembered that his phone was the only way to communicate with Eun Ha and he didn't really want to spend his money just to buy another phone. So he held his anger and asked for an explanation from Jumin.

"It was not an open party. And only those who are invited and plus-one who could go to the party. Since you are neither of that, you may not attend."

Jumin did have a way to boil Zen's anger. Zen was more furious to think a possibility that Jumin was enjoying this moment.

"Plus, you always brag in the chat room how you didn't have any time to play around. That you're so busy with your musical. So, accept this answer. You can't be a big star if you slack off and didn't give all your passion into your acting," Jumin said, judgingly

"What? I always am 100% for my acting. Why did you say I'm not giving my all in my acting?" Zen snapped

"You just asked me to go to a party which you are not invited. Hence you're so called busy from your schedule. Doesn't that mean that you wandered off while everyone else practicing really hard?" Jumin asked nonchalantly

Zen couldn't hold it in any longer. He was indeed never been in a same page with Jumin.

"Don't conclude my situation only from your point of view! And I can be a big star someday!" Zen shouted

"Shame. You could be famous from a long time ago if you just accept my help back then,"

Zen clenched his jaw. He remembered the first time he met Jumin. Jumin suddenly offered him a gigantic offer exactly at the first time they met. Jumin wanted to sign a contract with Zen and planned to give him a scholarship of musical acting in France 3 years ago.

That kind of help was not the kind of help he wished for. If he accepted Jumin's offer, he had to admit that everything his mother say about being successful and the importance of connections were true. He directly refused Jumin's offer. But Jumin suddenly brought up that kind of conversation all over again, and that made Zen furious enough to yell at Jumin.

"No thank you! I'm happy enough with my career right now without your help!" Zen growled

"But you wished to ditch your practice for tonight's party. That's kind of irresponsible," Jumin said

"DUDE! I have practiced enough already!"

"Well, I've read it somewhere that overly confident about what you do will lead to a problem because of lack preparation," Jumin said calmly

"OMG! I can't talk to you! You're trying to mess with me on purpose right?" Zen asked

"No way. It's an arrogant thought to think that I would waste my energy trying to find ways to mess with you," Jumin said

"Seriously, you are such a douche!" Zen snapped

"At times, you must make compromises to play with the big boys. If you go through me, you'll be up there with them easily," Jumin said, "My company's name will definitely help you back then. A different actor would have taken the offer in a second, and yet you refused my offer."

"I have my own principle, you know.. And I have no business to talk about my principle with you!" Zen said, getting more and more psyched, "I'm famous enough without your gigantic unreasonable offer!"

"Congrats,"

"Congrats on what!? I know you're not happy for me!"

"You can't trust me." Jumin said

"I don't want to trust you. Stop trying to lecture me!"

"Funny." Jumin said

"What is?!"

"You've been thinking about me all this time," said Jumin

"Oh my god.." Zen couldn't believe his ears

"You don't have feelings for me, do you?" Jumin asked

"OMG! DUDE! Finally you've gone crazy!" Zen shouted so hard, "I just want to say, I don't need you to succeed! This is pissing me off! I'll be perfect in my new role!"

"I see. I've unknowingly motivated you. I'm glad to have been helpful,"

"It's only because you are a jerk!" Zen said, "Whatever! I should stop wasting my time and go practice!"

Zen didn't say good bye to Jumin at all and hit a wall with his right hand. A few people just came in to the room and confused about Zen. All of them were asking what really happened to him. But he didn't really want to answer their question. Instead he turned his thoughts to the dance and didn't bother about anyone else.

…

It had been 2 days since Eun Ha left her own apartment to live at Rika's office tel. And it seemed like there was no significant change in her neighborhood. There were parked cars lined up neatly in front of her apartment, even though almost no cars passing by the road.

People tend to go everywhere by public transportations, especially in Seoul. Almost all people prefer to go anywhere by getting a cab, or bus, or subways because it was more sufficient that way. Everyone could reach any bus shelters or subway stations by foot as it would only take a few blocks to walk from each stations or shelters. Somehow, the car was only needed when they were going out of town.

In some way, she loved this quiet neighborhood. The sound of the river flowed under the bridge plus shady trees along the street were the things she couldn't get in Rika's office tel. And most important of all, Terry. Terry, the golden retriever dog belonged to her landlord, ran over to her with enthusiasm, like always. If there were one thing she missed most about her apartment were the sparkle eyes of Terry.

"Hi Terry, miss me?" Eun Ha asked, rubbing Terry's head

Terry barked as an answer.

"I miss you too, Terry. I'm sorry I've been gone for a few days.." Eun Ha said, "Here, eat this. I know it's your favorite,"

Terry woofed in delight as Eun Ha gave him a full packed of sausage. Eun Ha beamed with pleasure seeing Terry enjoying his little snack. She stroked the dog's head gently while he chewed on it ravenously.

"Hey, you know.. I met some interesting people," Eun Ha muttered, "You won't believe me if I told you that I met my crush from years ago,"

Terry still chewed on his sausage.

"You still remember Zen, right? I finally met him yesterday,"

Eun Ha watched how Terry enjoyed his snack. Maybe it was rather a good time to confide to him about her days before in another side of town.

Pouring out her heart to Terry had become a habit since the first time she moved in to this apartment. Somehow she found it relaxing to tell everything to Terry as he couldn't say anything to anyone else. Eun Ha had a problem of sharing her problems to anybody because she thought she would burden everyone with her problems. That was why she preferred to hold everything inside her head without being able to speak the truth out of it. It was troublesome to have someone hate her for something she said.

" _To be disliked or hated by everyone was the scariest thing,"_ she thought

She got used to try to impress other people by doing everything she asked to do even when she hated it. When she was at high school, she pretended to be okay when her friends asked her to do chores after class because they said that they had something urgent. Their reasons were different every day. Moms got sick, they had to go to cram school, piano lesson, et cetera et cetera. There were too many different reasons until she lost track of it. Or when her classmates made a copy of her homework every day at class, to the point of she was busted by their teacher, that she let her classmates made a copy of her homework. And that led to another assignment of writing an apology letter plus writing a thousand sentences of _"I'll never let my friends copied my homework ever again."_

She pretended to be okay when one of her college friends made fun of her and called her an idiot when she got a bad score once in her test due to exhaustion of having to do part-time jobs when she was still in college. She knew that they were only joking. But she opted to laugh together with them, as if she didn't mind at all being laughed at.

She knew she bled inside her heart, but she couldn't show it on her face.

She wouldn't.

Sometimes she got hurt by her tendency of being people's pleasure like that. She just wanted to yell to people. But she wouldn't do that because she thought she might hurt other people. She always thought that keeping everything that might hurt others was an adult way for living in this society. After all, she could still live until now.

The only one who always saw the real Eun Ha was Terry. Fortunately her landlord was kind enough to let her play with him.

Terry woofed again when he finished eating his sausage.

Eun Ha chuckled, "You finished it already? You really love it, don't you?"

He answered her question by howling seductively, a sign of him asking for another treat.

"You've eaten the _whole_ pack already.. Haven't you got enough?" Eun Ha asked, laughing

Terry stared forlornly toward Eun Ha.

"Aww, don't be like that.. Sorry, I only brought one pack. Next time I'm back here, I promise I'll bring you more. I swear!" Eun Ha gave a V sign

Terry's gazed turned brighter after hearing Eun Ha's promised. And she swore she saw a gorgeously sweet grin Terry made that day. _Such a cute grin._

"You know," Eun Ha said, "I'm going to a party tonight. Guess whom I go with?"

Terry tilted his head to the right. He seemed not to know the person she talked about.

"I'm going with Han Jumin! A director of the biggest company in Korea! Can you believe that?" Eun Ha said, excited

Terry listened to her story thoroughly.

"Well, it's the first time that I go to a party. What do you think that party is like? Do you think it will be a grand party? Or maybe a ball?" Eun Ha asked with dreamy eyes, "Oh my.. What if it were actually a ball? I don't really have a splendid dress fitted for a party like that. What should I do, Terry?"

He just stood there listened to Eun Ha. It was not like he could answer her by saying anything. But his presence was more than adequate for her at that time.

"Do you think that white dress enough for this party?"

Eun Ha wore that white dress once to go to her friend's wedding 6 months ago. And Terry liked that dress as well back then that he barked and wagged his tail unstoppably.

After a moment of silent, Terry barked to say his agreement for her choice of the dress.

"Thank you. Okay then, I'll have to get ready,"

Eun Ha stood up and stroked the final touch for Terry. Both of them walked to the entrance of her apartment.

"Bye Terry! I'll come upstairs," Eun Ha said, when they reached the entrance, "Tell me how I look when I came down stairs in a few hours, okay?"

Terry woofed as an answer when she went on the stairs.

It was a 10 story building. First floor was a ground floor, belonged to her landlord. She occupied the second floor. She climbed the stairs to go to her room. There were three rooms on one floor. The one that belonged to Eun Ha was the one before the stairs.

First thing she did when she walked in to her room was opening the windows. She had a pretty big window beside her bed. As it opened, a nice cool breeze and a warm light of sun filled the room. The sound of the rivers made a way in and soothed her, like a perfect symphony to complete her day.

She opened her closet and took out her white dress. She placed it on her bed and wondered what kind of shoes that would complement the dress. She turned her gaze toward the stacks of her heels outside her bedroom. She had a few different colors and models of heels. Most of them were 7-15 cm heels. She had wedges, cone, sling back, peep toe, boots, ankle strap, and her favorite one, the oxfords. Though, she saw an ad somewhere of a brown French heels, also known as Louis Heels or Pompador heels, which she wanted to own precisely at the moment but couldn't. She didn't have the money to buy it. The price for a single pair of French heels was approximately 175,000 won, or 155 US$, the same with her monthly payment for her apartment. As much as her love for heels, she didn't want to spend her money for apartment for a single pair of heels. That was the case for her. But maybe someone like Jumin wouldn't even bother to think about that mere thing.

As a matter of fact, Jumin told Eun Ha that he planned to give her a dress for the party. He called her when she was on the way to her apartment. But because he didn't know her exact size, he couldn't buy the dress or the shoe. Eun Ha told him that it was okay, and she got it settled. She just needed to get back to her own apartment because she didn't bring her dress to Rika's office tel. Though, she was a little bit unsure about the dress she chose. What if it was not enough? Jumin must wear an expensive and nice tux. Probably. Would it be okay for her to wear a knee-length capped sleeve white dress though?

After a moment of hesitation, she decided to wear her red 15 cm ankle strap to the party. She thought it would nice to use it with her long red ribbon, a gift from her ex-boyfriend years ago. She barely used it because she didn't really have an occasion to wear it.

Now that he had the first party in her life, maybe she would like to try it on.

She took a bath after finished deciding her outfit for tonight. She made sure of scrubbing the entire corner of her body. She wanted to look as bright as she can be. She was supposed to ask Jumin what kind of party was that, but she didn't want to be seemed like a child with too many questions. So she just got along with it and ensured herself that she was going to be okay.

After a long nice bath, she dried her hair and put a lotion on her face. She knew a basic make up. She used bb cream for a basic foundation and a simple light red color as lipstick. She took a few strands of her hair and put a ribbon on it and let her long hair swayed back to her hips. She knew that she had to also mend her eyes part, like giving an eye-shadow or an eye-liner to make her gaze sharper. Alas, she couldn't do that. Hopefully Jumin wouldn't mind going with her almost bare-faced like appearance.

It was already 6 pm. Jumin told Eun Ha that Driver Kim would pick her up at her apartment precisely at that time. One more thing she knew about Jumin, he liked the punctuality of time and he never tolerated any lateness despite any reason. So, Driver Kim might be at the front door any time sooner.

Jumin and Eun Ha had an agreement toward that thing. She always be on time in every meeting with her friends. She was never late at all if there were any gathering. She was the only one who always had to wait for a very long time before her friends popped out one by one. She felt upset at times. But as usual, she hid her uncomfortable feeling inside her and put on a smile in her face.

A bell rang from her door. Driver Kim must be outside. Not a moment to lose, she dashed into the intercom.

"Driver Kim?" she asked

"Yes, Miss Lee. I believe you're ready to go now?"

A middle-aged man with short grey hair was seen through the 4,3 inch LCD video door phone intercom. He wore a suit. As expected; him being Jumin's driver.

"Yes, of course," she answered, "Hold on. I'll get downstairs,"

She went downstairs and Terry had been waiting for her. He barked enthusiastically when he met Eun Ha.

"How do I look? Am I okay?" Eun Ha asked, grinning

Terry woofed.

"Thank you!" Eun Ha said, "Well, Terry, I have to go now. Be good while I'm gone, okay?" Eun Ha asked

Terry howled as an expression of sadness. His eyes looked adorable when he made that kind of expression.

Driver Kim opened the door when they reached the limo. Eun Ha was not too surprised when she was picked up by the limousine. Her past conversation with RFA members signified that Jumin was the wealthiest among them. Yoosung pouted when he realized that except him, every other member was rich. Jumin, the director of the 5th biggest company in Korea, must be the wealthiest. Eun Ha could already guess how many assets he got or maybe shares in his company along with in other companies. Jaehee, as his assistant, was also well-paid for her long nights shift in the company.

" _Take comfort in the money that goes to your bank account,"_

Jumin said that in every occasion when he was cornered by everyone else in the chat room due to his ignorance of Jaehee's private life.

Money might be important, but not as much as the life itself. She knew that she needed money to live but it didn't mean that she had to sacrifice her freedom for money. Eun Ha felt pity toward Jaehee's misery of having to work late alone in the company. But Jaehee also said that Jumin was busier than her. He had more work than Jaehee.

As a matter of Seven, he was a genius hacker. He owned several sport cars in his garage and literally called them his babies. Apart from that, Eun Ha didn't really know about Seven. He never told her about his life and Eun Ha wasn't sure whether asking him about that would okay for him.

Zen. Her lovely Zen. He told Eun Ha that he was not that rich like any other member. But he enjoyed his life fully with his acting, so it was enough for him.

Suddenly she remembered her phone call with Zen that afternoon. Zen said that he would tell her whether he would go to the party or not. But he hadn't called until now. Maybe, Eun Ha should call him once again, to make sure of his participation in this party. Moreover, she missed him so much already.

She searched Zen's phone number. A lovely heart was put beside Zen's name in her contact. Her heart was beating so hard in an anticipation of hearing another sweet voice of Zen.

After a few ring, Zen picked up the phone call.

"Hello," Zen said

Eun Ha lifted an eyebrow. There was a sad resonance in his voice, unlike usual. She wondered what could happen at him.

"Zen? What's wrong? You sound a bit unusual," Eun Ha said, worried

Zen let out a long desperate sigh. Eun Ha's concerned was increased. What could possibly go wrong in the last few hours?

"Where are you right now?" Zen asked, still in his gloomy sound

"I'm on my way to Jumin's company. He said we would go to the party together," Eun Ha answered

"Is that so?"

"Yes," Eun Ha said, "But seriously, what happened Zen? Is there something wrong?"

"I.." he sighed, "I don't think I could go to the party,"

Eun Ha frowned.

"Ah, I see. Jumin didn't let you, did he?"

"That's one other thing. I planned to come to that party regardless what that jerk said. But.." Zen brusquely said, letting out a long sigh again

"What's wrong?" Eun Ha asked, concerned

"I think I twisted my ankle. It hurts so bad now," Zen muttered

"Oh my god.. Are you okay? Where are you now?" Eun Ha asked, worried

"I'm in hospital. Don't worry. My friends take me to the hospital right away. So no need to worry,"

"Is that so? Thank god.. There was at least someone else with you right now.." Eun Ha said, "Does it hurt so bad? How in the world could you hurt your ankle like that?"

"Well, Jumin and I had a fight earlier, when I asked him about the party," Zen explained, "Of course we are used to this kind of fight, but he suddenly come up with our past. And I don't really want to speak about it, ever again,"

Eun Ha listened carefully.

"He began to ramble that I had no passion for my musical that I tried to ditch my practice for tonight's party," Zen growled, "I couldn't take that easily. Who was he to judge me like that, right?"

Eun Ha didn't say a word. She felt sorry for Zen. She suddenly had an urge to turn back and go to the hospital to see Zen. But she knew she couldn't do that to Jumin. She had an appointment with Jumin after all.

"Oh Zen.. I wish I could be with you now.." Eun Ha wailed

"I know.. I want that too.. But no matter how jerk he could be, it would be unwise for you to go to my place when you had another appointment with him," Zen retorted

She pressed her heart hardly as she was torn between two options. One, she had an appointment with Jumin. Two, she desperately wanted to be with Zen at the moment.

"I know.." Eun Ha cooed

"So, Eun Ha.. I'm fine. I have a cast now, so I can't practice for the time being," Zen said, "I shouldn't have gone too hard with my practice. But Jumin that jerk kept provoking me, so I totally fell for it and did more than I could handle. It's so pathetic of me, to be like this in front of you,"

"No, you're not pathetic at all Zen. Cheer up! I know you will get better in no time!" Eun Ha said

"Yeah, I have a body like a monster though. The last time I was on an accident, I was already recovered in 3 days. So, an injury like this might not last for a long time,"

"Yes, I'm sure of it," Eun Ha said

"Ah babe, I'm so sorry but I have to go now. My doctor said that he wanted to try a few test for me," Zen said

"Yes, of course. Bye Zen,"

"Bye,"

Eun Ha shut her eyes. She never believed that he could be in an injury like this because of over-practicing. She really wanted to go to Zen.

Maybe it was because of her that he got into an accident like this. If only Jumin didn't ask her to go to a party, he wouldn't ask Jumin to go as well which led to the bickering and him being injured.

Or maybe he could ask Jumin for forgiveness that she had to go somewhere else.

What should she do?

Driver Kim turned swiftly and they had arrived in C&R International building, a skyscraper which consist of hundreds floor in one building.

"I'll notify Mr. Han first, Miss Lee. Do you wish to come with me?" Driver Kim asked

"Yes," Eun Ha said

She got off from the limousine and followed Driver Kim to go inside the building, while she was considering what kind of excuse she would like to give to Jumin when she finally meet him in person a few minutes later.


End file.
